Superstar Juan Soto — who was recently acquired by the New York Mets — has had a rocky start with his new club. This is all after he signed a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract. The outfielder displayed his immense power on this titanic blast against the Boston Red Sox. He made contact with an incendiary 102 mph laser to left field. Sadly for Soto, the ball hit the iconic 37-foot Green Monster wall about two-thirds of the way up. As such, he was only awarded a one-hit wonder.
In a subsequent game against the New York Yankees, Soto was subjected to shaming. Fans were furious by his no-hustle as he jogged out of the batter box. He grounded one through the middle infield. He was tardy on the reaction, which let DJ LeMahieu glide into position to make the much easier throw for the out at first base. This was the beginning of a very scary pattern. The night before, at Yankee Stadium, Soto similarly did not run out a grounder with hustle mentioned as “an issue.”
Even with these disappointments, Soto showed his wheels, stealing second base on the very first pitch to the next batter. He found himself stuck on third base, failing to be rewarded for his hard work. Entering play today, Soto’s slash line is .246/.376/.439. By comparison, his career averages .283/.419/.528 respectively. His OPS of .815 would be second-best among qualified Mets players and 47th overall in Major League Baseball.
“We’ll talk to him about it.” – Carlos Mendoza
Mendoza emphasized that Soto really needs to be more aggressive in his running. He even singled out this need for especially tricky ballparks, like Yankee Stadium.
“But with the wind and all that, and in this ballpark – anywhere, but in particular in this one, with that wall right there – you’ve got to get out of the box. So, yeah, we’ll discuss that.” – Carlos Mendoza
As the season progresses, it remains to be seen how Soto will adjust his approach at the plate and on the bases. What the Mets organization clearly wants is the kind of constructive conversations that will jump-start the former superstar’s performance and increase his contributions from New York’s biggest fish.