Nationals Get First Juan Soto Injury Update After Early Exit

Washington Nationals fans have been holding their breath ever since outfielder Juan Soto left Sunday's game early with tightness in his left calf. Losing their best player would be yet another brutal blow in a disappointing season, but the first injury update comes with good news.

Juan Soto says “everything was fine” on the MRI of his calf. Says it’s “just a little tight.” Will take it day-to-day, but appears to have avoided anything serious.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 4, 2022

Juan Soto Injury Update

Soto told reporters that "everything is fine" after undergoing an MRI on Sunday. The calf is merely "just a little tight" at this point and he remains day-to-day. It seems like the 23-year-old avoided any kind of major injury, which is the best case scenario considering what Soto means to this roster.

Don't be surprised if Washington takes a cautionary approach here. After all, Soto has finished within the top-10 in NL MVP voting in each of the last three seasons. Sitting the All-Star slugger for a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies this week would give him some time to fully recover.

MLB fans may look at the 2022 season and think Soto is having a down year. His batting average sits at .226 in early July, but keep in mind he leads the sport in walks (67) and is on pace to set a career-high mark in doubles. Soto also leads the Nationals with 15 home runs and 46 runs scored.

Keep an eye on Soto's status over the next few days. Lane Thomas is slated to start in right field for the Nationals on Monday and should be seen as his replacement for now. Soto is currently tied for the 10th-best odds to win NL MVP at +5000, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.