For the short term, the Mets will have to survive without their best hitter.

Juan Soto was placed on the injured list Monday with a right calf strain, a move expected after he departed a game three days earlier with discomfort in the muscle.

Access the Mets beat like never before

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

The Mets have placed Soto’s expected return to play timeline at two to three weeks. Soto underwent an MRI exam on the calf over the weekend in San Francisco and called the strain “minor.” He wasn’t immediately placed on the IL as the team gave him an opportunity to see how the calf would respond during 48 to 72 hours of rest. But Soto’s IL stint is retroactive to Saturday.

Soto sustained the injury while running from first to third in the first inning Friday. The Mets won that night and didn’t miss his bat Saturday or Sunday, completing their road trip with victories at Oracle Park.

It’s a rare shutdown for the 27-year-old Soto, who has appeared in at least 150 games in each of his full seasons — the pandemic-shortened year excluded — since arriving to the major leagues in 2018.

He was off to a solid start in eight games for the Mets this season with a .355/.412/.516 slash line, one homer and five RBIs.

Ronny Mauricio was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to fill the roster spot. The infielder likely doesn’t figure into the starting lineup, but he will bolster the Mets bench, which was short with Soto sidelined before hitting the IL.

The most likely scenario is a platoon involving Brett Baty and Tyrone Taylor until Soto returns. Baty jammed his left thumb diving into second base Saturday and was scratched from the starting lineup a day later.

However, manager Carlos Mendoza was hopeful Baty would be ready to play again Tuesday, when the Mets open a new homestand against the Diamondbacks.

Mendoza indicated that when he plays Baty and Carson Benge in the same outfield, Benge will likely slide from right field to left. The rationale is that Baty, who is playing the outfield this season for the first time, has received all his work in right field. Benge was drafted and developed as an outfielder.

The Mets also have Jared Young as an option. Young started in Baty’s spot Sunday as the left fielder and went 3-for-3 at the plate. He was also solid defensively, throwing out Jerar Encarnacion attempting to turn a single into a double on a shot that bounced off the fence.

Taylor emerged big for the Mets with a pinch-hit, three-run homer on Saturday. The veteran outfielder is the best defensive option of the group and figures to start against left-handed pitching.

“There’s a lot of versatility,” Mendoza said Sunday. “There’s a lot of things we can do because of the flexibility. It goes to show you that it’s a big roster and it’s fun.”

The Mets received contributions throughout the lineup in winning three of four games against the Giants. Most notably, the team received big hits from Mark Vientos and Marcus Semien, the latter of whom emerged from an early slump.

Over his past five games, Vientos — who has been playing first base while Jorge Polanco deals with right Achilles tendinitis — has produced a 1.328 OPS with one homer and four RBIs.

Semien went 7-for-15 — including his first homer in a Mets uniform — in the four games against the Giants. The Mets also received a two-homer game from Francisco Alvarez on Friday, adding to the lineup’s West Coast surge. In the four games, the Mets averaged 6.5 runs.