QUEENS, NY — The Mets will dole out a record-breaking $765 million to Juan Soto because of his bat. This is not new information.
The 26-year-old is on pace for a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career at the plate, has been one of the game’s elite hitters for the last eight years, and is still entering his prime.
The first month of his Mets career has not featured that same kind of production. Through his first 25 games, he is batting .233 with a .753 OPS, three home runs, and 12 RBI — production not nearly worth the price Steve Cohen is paying. But it’s still early, obviously, and an acclimation period will be necessary even when he is batting between the red-hot Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.
In the meantime, Soto’s defense, particularly his arm, played a significant role in the Mets’ seventh straight win on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. He threw out Nick Castellanos at the plate from right field in the eighth inning to keep the game tied at two apiece — a game the Mets eventually won in 10.
It was a one-hopped laser that came in on the first-base side of the plate, but catcher Hayden Senger was able to reel it in and make a diving tag to preserve the tie.
Castellanos, with his lesson learned, opted not to tag up from third in the top of the 10th with the bases loaded and one out after Bryson Stott flew out to Soto in right. It helped reliever Max Kranick get out of a monumental jam, and ultimately set up Mets heroics in the bottom of the 10th, when Pete Alonso tied the game with an RBI double and Starling Marte drove him home with the game-winning single.
“I’m trying my best to come through with the bat, but whenever that doesn’t come through, I have to do something else,” Soto said. “We play defense, we run the bases right, and I think today, I had the chance to help the team with my defense, and I feel great about that.”
At the plate, Soto’s stat line mirrored his usual results: 1-for-3 with a single, a walk, and a strikeout. It is certainly underwhelming, but his metrics at least suggest that a breakout is coming sooner rather than later. His average exit velocity of 92.4 mph ranks within MLB’s 85th percentile. He has also squared up 34.8% of his balls put in play, which is in the 95th percentile.
So, what is holding him back?
Soto is more often than not getting on top of the baseball, doing so 38.7% of the time this season. Last year, that number was at 28.9%. His ground-ball percentage of 58.7% and his pulled ground-ball percentage of 29.3% are on pace to set new career highs.
He has also struggled to use all portions of the field, as just four of his 21 hits have been sent to the opposite field (to the left of second base).
“He’s getting there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier this week. “When you see a guy driving the baseball the other way with authority… that’s a good sign, especially the hitter he is. This is a guy who uses the whole field. He’s able to drive the ball anywhere. When you see him going like that, it’s a good sign, so hopefully that’s the case here.”
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