Is Soto Getting His Groove Back?
In the eighth inning of Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies, Juan Soto stepped up to the plate looking to help the Mets add some insurance to their 4-3 lead. He was more than up to the task, knocking the ball over the fence with an exit velocity of 110.1 mph. With that homer, Soto helped New York finish off the sweep of Colorado, going yard for the second straight day, and had Mets fans wondering, “Is this when we finally see the Juan Soto we’ve been waiting for?”
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Soto finished the month of May slashing .231/.357/.413. For a mere mortal, those are solid numbers, but for someone with Soto’s resume, and perhaps, more importantly, his bank account, he’d be the first to say that it is falling below expectations. His Baseball Savant page is a sea of red, with expected stats that tell the story of an unlucky hitter.
Entering Monday, Soto has an expected batting average of .302 and an expected slugging percentage of .594, which are both in the 90th percentile or higher. Partnered with the Mets’ strong start record-wise, despite Soto’s raw numbers, the heat on the team’s star right fielder should not be harsh. Remember, he is Juan Soto. He will hit. If you sign him, hits will come.
“I think he’s just in a really good place because he’s owning his approach,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said of Soto after the game. Alonso also homered on Sunday, putting him just 14 away from tying Darryl Strawberry‘s all-time franchise mark. That swing also put him in sole possession of fourth on the all-time Mets RBI list, 23 away from Mike Piazza in third.
“I’ve felt good since day one, it’s just the results haven’t been there,” Soto said of his performance, “Finally, I’m getting some balls landing, finding some holes, some gaps. We’ve just got to keep working on it.”
As we continue into the third full month of a 15-year contract, Soto’s Mets legacy is in its infancy. For reference, it’s not David Wright that Soto is about to catch on the all-time team homer list, but Wright’s good buddy Michael Cuddyer and former Met legends Devin Mesoraco and Lance Johnson. Soto’s RBI on Sunday didn’t overtake Howard Johnson; it did help vault him past José Oquendo.
But while the record book of Soto’s Mets career is in the first few paragraphs of chapter one, it doesn’t mean that this early summer story won’t be the sweetest.
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