Juan Soto activated, but not in the Nationals’ lineup vs. Mets

Juan Soto is not in the lineup. Yet.

He was reinstated from the COVID injured list to the active roster Tuesday. That's a step. But, Soto is not in the Tuesday night lineup against the New York Mets and left-hander Steven Matz.

"He's getting there," Davey Martinez said. "I just want to make sure that we keep him healthy. We got him back and want to keep him healthy. He's going to hit [Tuesday], he's going to take some more ground balls in the field. Run a little bit more today. We'll see where he's at.

"I talked to him [Monday] night and he really felt like he could probably use another day or two. Said his legs felt a little heavy. His arm was a little sore. He tried to ramp it up -- we gave him the last four days, he's probably got about 20 at-bats. In that respect he doesn't feel that bad. But I want to make sure, like I said, we keep him healthy. We just got him back. He missed a lot of time. So we just want to make sure when he's here now, he's here to help us every day."

Martinez had to remind Soto the designated hitter is now an option in the National League. Which means the Nationals could start him in that spot or use it to give him a break.

Andrew Stevenson was optioned to the alternate training site to make room for Soto on the roster. Josh Harrison is playing left field in Soto's place Tuesday.

Reliever Wander Suero was also activated Tuesday and is available if need be.

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