Inside The Mets

Insider reveals Juan Soto's impact on Mets clubhouse

This story from a MLB insider says a lot about how Juan Soto is acclimating to the New York Mets' clubhouse.
Grant Young|
Feb 19, 2025; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on during a spring training workout at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Feb 19, 2025; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on during a spring training workout at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

New York Mets fans have quickly noticed that superstar slugger Juan Soto seems to have quickly fit in with his new team.

There have been several viral posts showing Soto laughing and joking with Mets teammates, apparently feeling at ease despite never having played with this group of guys for longer than a month.

And given that Soto is dominating during this season's spring training — which is proven by his staggering .357 batting average, 1.295 OPS, 4 home runs, and 8 RBIs in 28 at-bats this spring — he doesn't seem to be feeling any regret over choosing the Mets in free agency.

During a March 18 appearance on SNY, The Athletic's Will Sammon shared a story about Soto's impact in the Mets' clubhouse.

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"In February, it was an early batting practice, it was Brandon Nimmo, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Francisco Lindor. That's a star-studded group, but it was batting practice. So they were working on direction hitting... it was boring, it was a snooze fest. And Juan Soto, toward the end of it, said 'This is boring guys.' He calls out 'Last round, everybody work on your line drives,'" Sammon said, per an X post from SNY.

"So they do a little bit of a competition... all of a sudden, the juices started to flow," Sammon continued. "You see them grinning in the batter's box, it was a totally different vibe. And Brandon Nimmo even said it, he said, 'It felt like we were 10-year-olds in the Sandlot'... and that to me was leadership in some way. And Nimmo even said it himself, he said that was an act of leadership."

Sammon then added, "We've seen it on TV during these games, he's letting his hair down a little bit, he's no longer playing for that contract anymore... We see somebody who knows where he's going to be for the next 15 years, and I think there's something to that as far as being comfortable to be a New York Met."

This awesome story exemplifies the impact that Soto already has, along with the type of leader he can continue to grow into.

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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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