Apr 22, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets designated hitter Juan Soto (22) follows through on a single against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Juan Soto got the overreactive, worthless corners of the sports social media metaverse going when he said he wasn’t in contact with his Mets teammates while rehabbing a strained calf muscle that kept him out for 15 games.
“No, not at all,” Soto said. “They’ve been on the road most of the time. So I haven’t talked to them.”
Naturally, the bloggers, radio hosts, and influencers who have never set foot in an MLB clubhouse — yet have aggregated a following by yelling into the abyss that is the internet — took this and ran with it to fit their click-baity agendas.
The reality is that this is common practice in the majors, even if it does not look the best. That rings especially true for a team that was in the midst of a 12-game losing streak and facing the daily reminder that its season was already teetering on the brink in late April.
One Mets veteran, who spoke anonymously with amNewYork for more openness, said he also did not contact his teammates during stints on the injured list earlier in his career.
“I stay off social media, but when I heard about it, I was surprised,” he said. “This is not a big deal.”
It is especially not a big deal to Soto, who has never been one to care much about outside perception of his game or relationships with his teammates. When asked his take on what fueled the Mets’ losing streak — their longest since 2002 — Soto cheekily said, “We haven’t won any games. That’s what happens. It’s just baseball.”
Tell the long-suffering Mets fans that “it’s just baseball,” and watch them start to foam at the mouth.
Especially with Francisco Lindor hitting the injured list for what is expected to be an extended period of time, it will be up to Soto to get the Mets out of the hole that they dug themselves while he was on the shelf. It started on Wednesday night with a 3-2 win in which the star left fielder went 1-for-3 with a walk after his 19-day lay-off.
“It was tough to see it,” Soto said of the losing streak. “It’s really uncomfortable to see it from the outside. I trust what we have and the talent that we have. It’s just a tough time, but we’ll get out of it.”
For more on Juan Soto and the Mets, visit AMNY.com
