Nationals’ Juan Soto to make season debut Wednesday vs. New York Mets

Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto is set to make his season debut on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19 in July.

The New York Mets‘ road to a victory on Wednesday night has become even bumpier.

Washington Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto will be making his season debut at Nationals Park in D.C. This comes after Soto tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the team’s season-opener against the New York Yankees back on July 23. MLB then cleared Soto to play after the 21-year-old twice tested negative for the coronavirus, but D.C. health officials needed to then approve of his return.

According to Byron Kerr of MASN, Soto was a bit skeptical of his initial positive test.

“For me, in my mind, it was a fake positive,” he told reporters. “I’ve been working on it. I’ve been tested a bunch of times negative. I’ve been following the rules, being in the right spot. And I think that’s why I think it was fake positive. I’ve been following the rules, I’ve been really serious with this because it is out there.”

Soto will bat cleanup and play left field in Wednesday night’s 6:05 p.m. ET in-division contest. He’ll be going up against a Mets squad that will send the newly signed Rick Porcello to the mound. Porcello has struggled mightily thus far in 2020, having garnered a 13.50 ERA through his first pair of starts (six total innings pitched).

In his career against the Mets (32 appearances), Soto has conjured up a .289 batting average with five home runs and 17 RBIs.