Juan Soto fouled a ball off his lower leg in the bottom of the third inning Wednesday night, the kind of jolt that can turn a routine at-bat into an immediate worry. The ball appeared to hit the front of his ankle and the top of his foot, and Soto stayed in the game for one at-bat before eventually coming out.
Soto was serving as the Mets' designated hitter and later took an at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, a sign that he was able to keep playing after the first blow. But by the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Mets tied at two and runners on first and third with two outs, MJ Melendez pinch hit for him.
The Mets did not have much time to breathe between scares. On Tuesday night, Francisco Alvarez left the team's game early after suffering an injury on a swing, and that problem later turned out to be a torn meniscus in his right knee. Wednesday made it two nights in a row that a Mets hitter left early because of an injury in the batter's box.
That is the part that matters most now for a club already living with an ever-expanding list of players on the injured list. If Soto's injury proves significant, it would deepen a problem the Mets have been trying to manage while still getting through games with a thin margin for error.
For now, the sight of Soto taking the field, then leaving after the seventh-inning pinch-hit move, is enough to keep the focus on what comes next. The Mets need one more piece of good news, and they need it fast.
