Surgeon explains why Mets are being smart with Juan Soto after calf strain

As ESPN shared, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals while he was trying to play through a calf strain he had been officially diagnosed with earlier in the series. 

That type of long-term setback is one reason that Deepak Chona, MD, an orthopedic sports surgeon and founder of SportsMedAnalytics, thinks that the New York Mets were wise to place outfielder Juan Soto on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 4 due to the right calf strain he went down with on April 3.  

Is Juan Soto at risk of suffering more serious injury after calf strain? 

"Recent experience in the NBA has raised concern that significant calf injuries can raise risk for catastrophic Achilles ruptures," Chona told SNY's Danny Abriano. "This is likely particularly relevant to the NBA, given the high frequency of eccentric strain placed on the Achilles in basketball. That risk likely exists in MLB, although limited examples exist of this pattern. Given the rise in pro athletes' Achilles tears following calf strains on the whole, however, we’d anticipate the Mets exercise caution with [Soto's] return."

Soto signed a 15-year, $765M contract to join the Mets in December 2024, and he then finished third in voting for the 2025 National League Most Valuable Player Award. ESPN stats show that Soto led the Mets last season with 43 home runs and a .921 OPS. Additionally, he was second on the team with 105 RBI. 

Why Mets may not panic about Juan Soto experiencing a reinjury

On Tuesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza explained that the club doesn't want to rush the highly-paid Soto back before he fully recovers from his injury. Soto reportedly could miss three total weeks, meaning he may not play again before April 24 at the earliest. 

"The biggest predictors of reinjury aside from severity are player history and age being over 30," Chona told Abriano about Soto's issue. "Fortunately, this appears to be his first calf strain, and he’s only 27, so both of those risk factors are in his favor. Faster return carries higher risk, so at this early point in the season, we’d expect them to be relatively conservative on returning him. Altogether, approximately 20 percent of elite athletes do experience a reaggravation of their original injury, with the majority occurring in the first month of the return. Again, I would emphasize that lower severity strains are less likely to face reinjury to begin with." 

The Mets won four straight games from April 3 through Tuesday. If they continue to play over .500 baseball without having Soto in the lineup, he theoretically could be kept out of action beyond the 21-day recovery timeline. 

With Soto sidelined, the 7-4 Mets will play the second matchup of a three-game home series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks (5-6) on Wednesday afternoon.