New York Mets reinstate slugger Juan Soto from the 10-day injured list

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets slugger Juan Soto batted second and served as the designated hitter Saturday after being reinstated from the 10-day injured list ahead of the team’s game against the Houston Astros.

“There’s no manager in the world that wouldn’t want to pencil him in the two hole everyday,” interim Mets manager Andy Green said.

Soto returned to the last-place Mets after missing 31 games with a grade 2 strain of his left calf. The five-time All-Star landed on the injured list after battling the issue for about a week before he left a July 24 game against the Dodgers in discomfort.

“He said he was going to be back before the year was out and he was back before August was out,” Green said.

The IL stint was the second this season for Soto, who was sidelined for 15 games with a right calf strain in April — his first trip to the IL since 2021, when he was with the Washington Nationals.

The Mets fell into the NL East cellar by going 3-12 during Soto’s first stint on the shelf but were 17-14 in his recent absence despite a massive trade deadline selloff.

“He’s worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks — a lot of it behind the scenes without people seeing it,” Green said. “He’s pushed himself in a way that, frankly, you don’t see a lot of veterans push themselves when your team is in this type of situation that we’re in.”

Green said he expects to get the Mets’ four outfielders — Soto and fellow veteran Luis Robert Jr. along with rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing — into the lineup on a daily basis. Robert, who missed almost three months earlier this season with a back injury before beginning to play left field after the deadline, was off Saturday after appearing in the previous four games.

Soto, in the second year of a 15-year, $765 million deal, is batting .283 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 84 games. He led the NL with a .947 OPS upon being injured.

The Mets made room for Soto by optioning infielder Eric Wagaman to Triple-A following Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Astros .

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