New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto hit his first home run at Citi Field on Thursday in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Two innings later, he hit his second.
Entering the game, Soto was slashing just .241/.368/.384 with three home runs and 12 RBI. Those numbers don’t sit well with a fanbase that expects more out of the $765 million man. He’s hit the ball well this season, although every at-bat hasn’t resulted in a base-knock.
One would think these two blasts would take some pressure off Soto’s back, but the star right fielder believes otherwise.
“What pressure? I don’t have any pressure,” Soto said. “[Manager Carlos] Mendoza’s really clear with me to make me feel comfortable … It’s just two homers that weren’t enough to get the win.”
Soto went 2-for-3 in the Mets’ 4-2 loss to Arizona with something tangible to point at on the stat sheet after weeks of the analytics showing that he is hitting the ball well.
“Yes, always good to see [Soto’s big day] and when you got a guy that controls the strike zone as well as he does, continues to hit the ball hard, even when he goes oh-for,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been saying it for the past couple of days – today, first at-bat, I think [he hit it] 110 mph right at the shortstop … When he’s going in that direction, left center, he’s a pretty dangerous hitter. It was good to see that today.”
The Mets lost their first home series since August of last season, and they’re 13-3 this year on their own turf. Despite Soto’s struggles, New York is 21-11 and atop the NL East.
“You hate to lose a series here at home, I also understand that’s going to happen,” Mendoza said. “We’ve been playing pretty well, but you date all the way back to last year – that’s pretty good. We gotta go on the road now, we’ll be back here. Just a couple of games that we didn’t get the job done, but we’re pretty dangerous, especially at home.”
A clicking Soto adds that much more danger to the Mets’ ranks. The 26-year-old is slashing .252/.379/.822, and he’s 8-for-his-last-25 (.320) since April 25.
No need to panic: He’s one of the greatest hitters in the game who had a tough first month of the season, and his team is in first place. If this slump carries through May into the middle of June, then it might be time to worry. But for now, he’s still a dangerous hitter who will likely get hot sooner rather than later, and if he does, watch out.
