Scrutiny of Mets' Juan Soto will be there all season
New York Mets' Juan Soto (22) looks to the dugout after being walked during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, April 11, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis) Credit: AP/Sara Nevis
Spin the numbers any way you want, but it’s hard to deny that Juan Soto isn’t really off to a $765 million start, and his cool April continued Thursday night during the Mets’ 4-1 victory over the Cardinals.
Soto went 0-for-3, struck out, drew a walk and grounded into his fifth double play, tying him for the MLB lead in that department.
For the record, the 38,246 fans at Citi Field tried to be supportive — he often was serenaded by “Let’s Go So-to!” chants — but they morphed into disgruntled rumblings that stopped short of boos after each of his failed at-bats.
Through 19 games, Soto’s .773 OPS ranks about 60th in the majors (counting ties), two spots below the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong. His .361 on-base percentage is significantly below his career .420 mark, tied with Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins (roughly 40th overall).
Soto homered in back-to-back games during the Twins series, giving him three on the season, but is hitting .071 (1-for-14) with runners in scoring position.
Soto’s legendary plate discipline appears to be hijacked at times by a high-profile player desperately trying to make something happen for his new team (and maybe justify that mammoth contract).
Because regardless of how Soto’s performance is measured to this point, be it the esoteric WAR or more traditional scorekeeping, the stat everyone comes back to is the money. That is part of every analysis, every conversation, and will shadow whatever he does on the field.
“I know things are going to change,” Soto told Newsday after Thursday’s game.
It’s only mid-April, of course. The Mets have played 11.7% of their season. But Soto’s situation does not engender rational debate. We’ve never experienced a player like this before, a perennial MVP candidate, just 26 years old, basically swiped from the Yankees — at the height of his powers — by the Mets.
Nobody’s had to perform under this unique level of scrutiny, shouldering a record contract, in New York, sandwiched between two warring fan bases. So I asked Soto after Thursday’s game if that’s something he senses, too.
“I feel like every player puts a little bit of pressure on themselves to try to get the best out of you,” Soto said. “But you definitely know how to handle it — at the right moment, the right time — because you don’t want to over-pressure yourself, where you get frustrated for even just a swing and a miss. You just got to be smart doing it.”
No one should be sounding any alarms. What Soto did across town, however, is a sizable reason for the extra scrutiny he currently gets in Flushing. A year ago, through 19 games, Soto was carrying the slumping Aaron Judge, hitting .352 with four homers, 17 RBIs and a 1.055 OPS to propel the Yankees’ fast start.
Was it unrealistic to anticipate a similar April surge for the Mets? Hardly. Once Soto signed that $765 million contract, the Mets became a 25-and-1 team, and the spotlight is going to shine the brightest on rightfield.
The same thing happened to Carlos Beltran two decades ago, when his debut season with the Mets — after signing his own seven-year, $119 million deal — didn’t measure up to those lofty expectations.
Beltran hit .301 with three homers, 12 RBIs and an .839 OPS through his first 19 games. The Shea Stadium fans ultimately grew restless over the course of that season, however, and by August, the boos began to rain down.
Beltran’s response back then? “If they want to continue to boo, they can do it,” he said. “I’ll be here for seven years.”
Soto — who’ll be in Flushing for twice that — could hear them much sooner, as Francisco Lindor did during the slow start to his first year at Citi Field. But the Mets (12-7) are atop the NL East, so the fan base has reason to be patient, even as the lineup has vastly underperformed — with the exception of Pete Alonso.
Soto isn’t the only culprit, but he’s the highest-paid by a wide margin and the biggest star on the team.
That puts him in the crosshairs like few others. One former Met who knows the feeling — at the same position — is Darryl Strawberry, who was booed as loudly as he was cheered during his less-productive stretches. Strawberry has watched Soto during these first few weeks and understands how expectations can be difficult to play through.
“Last year he was on a one-year deal,” Strawberry told Newsday. “This year it’s a 15-year deal, so everybody’s going to want it all immediately, right? But he’s a very talented guy. He’ll figure it out. He’s human just like anybody else. He just seems a little bit off and there’s more attention focused on him because of the contract that he has.”
To some degree, this would be the case anywhere. But it’s multiplied by 100 in New York, and especially for Soto, who’s viewed as a traitor in the Bronx and a savior in Queens. All that, and the money, is impossible to dodge.
“You just can’t let the noise get to you,” Strawberry said. “You just have to step up and say, ‘OK, I’m that dude.’ You show them ‘I’m that guy.’ That’s what Soto has to do.”
It’s insane to imagine that won’t happen. But the sooner the better for Soto and the Mets.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
