The Mets will take another look at their lineup on Monday when they open a series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, and they will do it without Juan Soto. Soto strained his right calf while running the bases during the Mets' series against the Giants at Oracle Park last weekend and went on the injured list on April 4, leaving New York to keep moving without its best hitter.
The early returns have been better than expected. The Mets entered Thursday 4-1 since Soto landed on the injured list, helped by a three-run walk-off home run from Ronny Mauricio in extra innings against Arizona on Tuesday and by Jared Young's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning that tied the game. On Sunday, Mark Vientos went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in the series finale against the Giants, another sign that the lineup has found enough answers to stay afloat.
That matters because Soto was off to a.355/.412/.516 start at the plate before the injury, and the Mets expect him to miss anywhere from 2-3 weeks, at best. Francisco Lindor said Soto is irreplaceable, calling him a top-three player in the league and saying, “He’s that good.” He added that the team has to stick together, gather around Soto and play for one another, while also hoping for a very short IL stay. Marcus Semien struck a similar note, saying the club has depth, that the injury gives other players a chance to play a little more and that the group will hold it down until Soto comes back.
The friction point is clear enough for the Mets: they are surviving without a player who changes the shape of a game every time he steps in the box. Ronny Mauricio was promoted from the minor leagues to the majors on Tuesday to replace Soto on the 26-man roster, and the Mets have leaned on role players and bench bats to keep the run going. That is a workable answer for a week or two. It becomes a harder one if Soto's absence stretches beyond the short window the club is hoping for.
The Dodgers will be the first real test of that stretch. The teams split their series at Chavez Ravine in June 2025, and this meeting arrives with New York already proving it can grind out wins without its star. The question now is not whether the Mets can survive one weekend without Soto; it is how long they can keep doing it while waiting for the bat that made the lineup go in the first place.
