WASHINGTON – The star of the Washington national team John Soto said an MRI scan of his left calf showed no damage after he left Sunday’s game against the Miami Marlins with a strain.
“Everything is fine,” said Soto. “We’ll be fine. They say it’s a little tight, so just take a couple of days and see how it goes.”
Soto wasn’t in Washington’s line-up Monday, but he pinned his eighth hit and drew a walkout.
The 23-year-old felt something stretch behind his left knee and calf after hitting a right throw-in early in the third half on Sunday. He leaves after running the bases and participates in a sweep at the end of the fourth sector.
“It didn’t feel so good, so I decided to pull out of the game and make sure everything was okay before I went ahead and made it worse,” Soto said. “You don’t want to walk out of the game so easily. I want to go out there, I want to give 100% of my energy, so I want to give it a try.”
Soto entered Sunday with a streak of eight fights. It makes sense that the Nats should be more cautious with the face of the franchise, with whom they’re trying to sign a long-term deal.
Teammates were worried for Soto before he had his MRI, but he’s already shown some progress.
“I feel better today, and I hope I feel better tomorrow too, and we will take that from there,” Soto said. “I just went to see how good it was.”
Washington opens a three-game series at NL East, Philadelphia’s rival on Tuesday. Right-handed people Jackson Tetreault will not play against the Phillies after being shortlisted for 15 days with a stress fracture in his right shoulder blade.
Tetreault is facing some discomfort, then can’t get that arm up after starting Saturday and it’s time to say something. His MRI showed much worse news than Soto’s.
“I’d rather fix this than keep pitching with it and maybe not do well and end up hurting the team,” he said. “As much as I want to be out there, this is for the best.”