Soto exits with calf soreness, and the Mets' injury list hits seven

Juan Soto left Friday's game against the Dodgers in the sixth inning with left calf soreness, replaced in the lineup by Jorge Polanco. No IL move has been announced yet, but the timing is lousy regardless — Soto is the team's only All-Star this year and its best hitter by a comfortable margin, posting an .886 OPS over 51 games.

The Mets are already carrying seven players on the injured list, including Clay Holmes, who has a 2.34 ERA in 11 starts and is now being discussed in trade talks rather than penciled into a rotation that badly needs him. Losing Soto, even briefly, would strip the lineup of its one reliable source of damage at a moment when the offense is already scraping bottom — 2.7 runs per game over the last 10, down sharply from where it was a month ago.

At 42-60 and 12 games back of the last wild card, the Mets aren't playing for anything in the standings. But Soto's health matters beyond this season, and a calf issue that lingers into August is the kind of thing worth watching carefully. The next few days will tell you whether this is a precautionary move or something that eats into his remaining games.