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Juan Soto Admits To New Adjustments Batting In Mets Lineup
Juan Soto Admits To New Adjustments Batting In Mets Lineup
Juan Soto is sixteen games into his New York Mets career at the time of writing. After signing the largest contract in baseball history this past Winter, the eyes of the sports world were squarely on the 26-year-old. Many expected the Mets to leap into contention and become the top dog to challenge the defending champion Dodgers in the National League. And as of now, the team is doing well. An 11-5 record is an encouraging start at the 10% mark of the regular season. That’s good for first in the NL East and the third best in baseball. However, there are early question marks to be asked as well.
The biggest one (outside of the starting rotation) is Soto himself. Currently, he owns a .250/.400/.429 slash line with two homers and six RBIs thus far. Compare that to last season when he had three homers and sixteen RBIs through the first sixteen games of 2024. The Dominican star went off to a blazing hot start behind two-time MVP and newly-minted Captain America in Aaron Judge.
Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire
It just so happens that Soto was willing to share his thoughts on the start to life in Queens rather than the Bronx with Mike Puma of the New York Post. Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall but his quotes can be seen below:
“It’s definitely different,” Soto said of pitchers’ approach, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. “I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me. I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that. I was pitched differently last year.”
“Everybody has got a role and I feel as a team, we have got to attack pitchers as a team,” Soto said. “We don’t have to attack the pitchers as individuals. If they don’t want to pitch to me, I just pass the baton and let (Alonso) do his thing. If they don’t want to pitch to him, he should do the same thing.” – Juan Soto via Mike Puma, NY Post
Some Yankees fans are already beginning their victory laps for thinking Soto made the wrong decision. However, that’s not a very wise thing to do. Juan Soto is still one of the bets hitters in baseball and if his body of work over the last six or seven years tell us anything, he will find a way to adjust and dominate. If nothing else, his presence in the lineup is helping other Mets, specifically Pete Alonso. The Polar Bear enters play today with an NL-leading 1.136 OPS. Perhaps the Soto effect of batting behind him is working out for Alonso like it did for Judge last year.
Juan Soto is not perfect, but no one is. He’s not off to the fast start he was probably expecting, but no one should write him or the Mets off this early.
