Inside The Mets

Expert's bold Juan Soto Mets season take raises eyebrows

One MLB expert doesn't see where the Juan Soto concern is coming from.
Grant Young|
May 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) reacts after striking out during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
May 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) reacts after striking out during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images | Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

While New York Mets slugger Juan Soto has looked like the guy the Mets expected when they offered him a $765 million contract over the past week or so, more still needs to be seen from the 26-year-old before fans decide that his hitting woes are firmly in the rearview.

This is why it was surprising to see one of Bleacher Report writer Kerry Miller's "Bold MLB Takes 60 Games into 2025 Season" being that, 'There's Nothing to Worry About with Juan Soto' in a June 5 article.

"If you'll recall, people were also losing their minds when Shohei Ohtani had a .631 OPS with no home runs eight games into his first season with the Dodgers. Granted, that conflagration had a betting scandal propellant attached to it, but Ohtani eventually turned a corner and merely ended up with the most marvelous HR/SB campaign of all time," Miller wrote.

"With Soto, we're perhaps just now getting that corner turn.

"He was *fine* through New York's first 39 games, but his numbers were downright abysmal from May 10-28, going 7-for-59 with no home runs for a .396 OPS—with a lack-of-hustle controversy, to boot. At that point, he was batting .224 and his slugging percentage had even dipped below .400," Miller continued.

"Even as things got ugly, though, it always felt like the breakthrough was coming."

Miller later added, "Was he 'pressing' at the plate? Maybe a little.

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"But was he still hitting the ball ridiculously hard and suffering from one of the worst 'BABIP compared to career norm' marks in the majors? Most definitely."

Miller concluded by writing, "You could almost tell from how much everyone was rushing to publish their 'What's wrong with Soto?' articles that even they fully expected him to snap out of it at any moment. And facing the woebegone Colorado Rockies may have been just what the doctor ordered, because he tattooed a pair of dingers in that series and now has three home runs in his last four games."

Mets fans are surely hoping Miller is right with this bold take.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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