Mets' Juan Soto, a 'dead cow,' has unusual stolen-base goal
Mets’ Juan Soto runs on his single against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Juan Soto, hitter extraordinaire, is not, has never been and never will be a particularly fast runner.
But in his first season with the Mets, he arrived with an unusual goal: He wants to set a career-high stolen base total. And with two steals in two tries already, he is on pace to do it, too.
“We want to add that,” Soto said. “My body is prepared for that.”
Antoan Richardson, the Mets’ baserunning coach, said: “In talking to him and asking about his goals, he shared some of his goals. I was like, all right, let’s find a way to get you to the things you want to accomplish.”
Historically, Soto is not much of a base thief. He has topped out at 12 steals in a season, in 2019 with the Nationals and 2023 with the Padres.
So where does this motivation come from, after signing a record 15-year, $765 million contract based largely on his hitting ability?
“When you look at my on-base percentage…” he said.
Soto trailed off and didn’t quite finish the thought. He didn’t want to brag, but it’s a mere statement of fact: He gets on base at an elite rate. He had a .370 OBP this season entering play Tuesday, boasted a .419 mark with the Yankees last year and owns a .420 in his career. That is extreme.
If he can make his on-base ability more valuable by advancing on his own, all the better. The Mets view it as potentially getting a little something extra out of an already excellent player, Richardson said.
“It tells you I gotta get better in that area,” Soto said. “Getting on base almost 40% of the time is really good — more if I can help with some speed and stolen bases.”
Mets' Juan Soto steals second base against St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese during the sixth inning at Citi Field on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Soto has tried this before. In that ’23 season in San Diego, when he wound up with a 70% success rate that baserunning gurus would deem not quite worth the effort, he stole more often at the encouragement of outfielder Jose Azocar, a then- and current teammate.
Azocar got a kick out of it because Soto wasn’t good at sliding. To convey that observation, he used a metaphor. In Venezuela, Azocar’s home country, when it was time for a cow to become food, they would hit it in the forehead with a big stick to kill it quickly, he said.
A sliding Soto reminded Azocar of the way cows fall over during that, uh, procedure. So he started calling Soto “the dead cow.”
“When he slides, it’s the same,” Azocar said with a laugh.
Azocar likes to remind Soto of this. Soto rolled his eyes when the topic came up this week.
“He gets so mad,” Azocar said.
Richardson nonetheless thinks Soto has more steals in him. Soto is happy to listen — to Richardson’s instruction on the technical aspects of running the bases, sure, but also when it is wise to steal. Richardson also is the first-base coach, so when Soto reaches, he tells him: go (or don’t go).
“He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around,” Soto said. “He’s really good at that — checking on the pitchers, what they do and how we can jump at it, when we can be more relaxed. I’ve trusted him twice and got it twice. So I feel like he knows what he’s talking about.”
Richardson said: “Let the game dictate how we do this thing. There are going to be times when it’s appropriate for him to go. And then there will be times when he won’t. The most important thing here — no secret — is we want him to be a really good hitter.”
Notes & quotes: Brandon Nimmo was absent from the lineup — for the first time this season — because manager Carlos Mendoza had been wanting to give him a day off and figured it may as well come against a tough lefthanded starter in the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez. That leaves Soto and Pete Alonso as the only Mets to start every game . . . Mark Vientos returned to game action after sitting out for two days because of groin discomfort . . . In continuing his rehab assignment, Francisco Alvarez was the youngest player in Triple-A Syracuse’s lineup by more than a year. Next was Drew Gilbert (24).
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
