Carroll’s Column: Juan Soto sidelined with calf strain

Image Credit: Simon Lindenblatt/Latino Sports

NEW YORK, NY — The ups and downs of a baseball season includes all sorts of challenges and obstacles for an organization to overcome—winning streaks, cold stretches, and everything in between, making for momentum shifts throughout a 162 game campaign, to go along with what everyone hopes against—sudden injuries. 

The Mets held their breath when their $50 million+ per year superstar, Juan Soto, felt calf tightness rounding second base last Friday in San Francisco during a Mets win against the Giants. The team immediately had Soto undergo an MRI, which happily revealed no serious issues. 

Manager Carlos Mendoza wisely did not play Soto the remaining two games in the City by the Bay. A cross-country flight did not help matters, and the Mets decided to err on the side of caution by placing him on the ten-day injured list. A press release issued by the Mets stated the time for full recovery for a calf strain is in the two to three-week range.

While it is always better to have Soto in your lineup than not, it is a lot better for him to miss time in the early part of the season when the weather is often cold and/or damp. The absence of Soto gives Brett Baty a chance to play in the outfield. The same can be said for defensive wiz Tyrone Taylor who hit a big three-run home run in San Francisco to salt away a Mets victory. Taylor struggled at the plate in 2025. One reason for that was he did not get enough at-bats to be productive against big league pitching.

The Mets called up their onetime top prospect, Ronny Mauricio, to take Soto’s place on the 26-man roster.

The move paid dividends as Mauricio had a walk-off single last Tuesday for a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in extra innings to open the last Mets homestand. 

Mauricio has only one option season left and just as of today, Monday, April 13th, he was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets must decide if he is a part of their future. If not, they need to trade him, or risk putting him on waivers and getting nothing in return.    

Credit to the Mets for making proper time change due to cold weather in Queens

Scheduling outdoor sporting events in early spring is a dicey proposition. Give the Mets credit for changing the starting times of two games scheduled with the Diamondbacks from 7:10 to 4:10 PM because of the cold and windy conditions.    

What I don’t understand is why the Mets schedule all early spring Saturday games for 4PM instead of the more beneficial 1PM start time.

Not only is the weather warmer for the nine innings, but it makes life easier for families to attend those games.

For older fans, traveling to and from games is safer with more daylight.

St. John’s guard Dylan Darling throws out first pitch at Citi Field prior to Diamondbacks-Mets

It was a nice gesture on the part of the Mets to have St. John’s University Red Storm men’s basketball guard Dylan Darling toss the ceremonial first pitch before Tuesday’s game. It was Darling’s driving shot which just beat the buzzer to get the Red Storm a 67-65 win over the Kansas Jayhawks to get them into the Sweet 16.

He deservedly got a nice reception from the Flushing faithful.

Minor League Baseball Action at Lakewood’s Shoretown Park between the Blueclaws and Cyclones

I caught my first minor league game in years last week when I saw the Philadelphia Phillies’ high-A affiliate, the Jersey Shore Blueclaws beat their Mets’ counterpart, the Brooklyn Cyclones, 5-1 at Lakewood’s Shoretown Park.

I spoke with Blueclaws outfielder John Spikerman before last Tuesday’s game. Spikerman played for the University of Oklahoma Sooners whose chief rival was the Oklahoma State Cowboys whose star players were current Mets pitcher Nolan McLean and outfielder Carson Benge.

“Those guys were why they always kicked our butts when we played them,” Spikerman said with a chuckle. I asked him about Benge’s struggles in the beginning of the 2026 season. “He’s a beast. He will be fine,” Spikerman reassured Mets fans.   

One of the fun things about attending a minor league game for fans is the chance to interact with players in unexpected places.

Brooklyn Cyclones shortstop Mitch Voit, who was the Mets #1 pick in the 2025 amateur draft, decided to visit the concession stand at Shoretown Park to purchase nachos after taking batting practice.   

Baseball fans of a certain age will appreciate the fact you can pose for selfies sitting in seats from two Philadelphia ballparks from yesteryear, Veterans Stadium, and Connie Mack Stadium. I felt my youth passing through my eyes.    

Former MLB right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino joins ESPN 

Former Mets and Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottavino has joined ESPN as a baseball analyst. Ottavino had made many appearances on SNY’s “Baseball Night in New York,” and was most recently part of NBC’s Pirates-Mets Opening Day telecast.

Ottavino told me in 2024 that he would like to be part of the Mets TV booth when either Keith Hernandez or Ron Darling retired. Ottavino realized Daniel Murphy was being groomed to get first dibs on that potential opening.

It may have been a key reason he blasted Carlos Mendoza for how he utilized relief pitchers in 2025.

Catch “Jerry West: The Logo” on Prime Video

Prime Video’s latest sports documentary, “Jerry West: The Logo” is technically a terrific look at the man whose silhouette became the artwork symbol for the NBA, but it is a difficult view because of the subject.    

The late Jerry West was one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, and was revered by his contemporaries, and those who came after him like Michael Jordan. West’s exploits on the hardwood masked the fact he suffered from depression, and was scarred by the fact his talented team, the Los Angeles Lakers, always lost in the NBA Finals, to one of the greatest dynasties in sports history, the Boston Celtics who were led by Bill Russell and John Havlicek, and were coached by Red Auerbach.

West’s psychological trauma began well before that. He grew up in a dysfunctional home in a poor rural West Virginia town. He never got over the death of his older brother, Don, who was killed in the Korean War.

To his credit, West agreed to sit down with the producers for a series of interviews where nothing was off limits. Interestingly, he found more satisfaction being an NBA general manager than he did either as a player or as a coach. At the end of “The Logo,” you wish that a man who achieved so much success could have found just a bit more joy in his life.    

“Full Swing” on Netflix returns for fourth season 

Netflix’s popular golf series, “Full Swing,” is back for its fourth season, and there is a local feel to it. Among the golfers who are being profiled in depth is St. John’s University alum Keegan Bradley. The 2025 Ryder Cup, which was played last September at Bethpage Black, where the US team lost to Europe, gets plenty of attention.    

“Queens Taste” set to take place on Tuesday, May 12th at Sound River Studios on the Long Island City waterfront

The World’s Borough’s biggest and most popular culinary event, “Queens Taste,” run by the Queens Economic Development Corporation, will take place Tuesday, May 12.

As per custom, attendees will enjoy cuisine, beverages, and desserts from a variety of Queens restaurants, breweries, and confectioners. After years of taking place at the Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens Taste is relocating to Sound River Studios on the Long Island City waterfront.

CBS announces time slot chance for “Comics Unleashed” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” 

CBS announced that “Comics Unleashed,” which is produced by comedian-turned- media mogul Byron Allen, will take over the time slot currently occupied by “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” after Memorial Day.

Allen tipped off attendees at last fall’s Advertising Week New York conference, whose CEO is Bayside native Matthew Scheckner, that he was in discussions with CBS after news had broken that CBS was cancelling “The Late Show.”​​

You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.