Juan Soto Gives Interesting Take on Batting Leadoff

The New York Mets picked up their third straight win last night against the Colorado Rockies with Juan Soto providing the keynote.

Batting leadoff for the second straight game and just the fourth time in his career, Soto slugged his first career leadoff home run as the Mets' offense took off from there in a 10-5 victory on a cold night at Coors Field.

Soto starts us off with a bang! 💥 pic.twitter.com/YTCOCn0adY
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 7, 2026

It goes without saying that Carlos Mendoza needed to get creative with the Mets' lineup, as the team has been decimated by injuries. Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco and Ronny Mauricio are all on the shelf for New York.

That has led Soto to enter uncharted territory batting leadoff, which he hadn't done since 2021 prior to Tuesday night. Despite this, it was a move he was "all-in" for.

When speaking with reporters after the Mets' win over the Rockies, Soto revealed what he said to Mendoza when he approached him about batting leadoff.

"I told him him right away whatever he wants. Wherever he wants me, I'll be there. Anything that I can help the team out, I'm going to be open it doing it," Soto said.

Juan Soto said that he was "all-in" when Carlos Mendoza approached him about hitting leadoff

"I told him right away whatever he wants. Wherever he wants me, I'll be there. Anything that I can help the team out, I'm going to be open to doing it" pic.twitter.com/Xi3ymncEX2
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 7, 2026

For the first time in what seemed like quite a while, the Mets finally had the offensive outburst they had long been waiting for.

Aside from Soto's homer, Marcus Semien had his first signature game for the Mets, tallying four hits, including a home run. Bo Bichette, Francisco Álvarez and Carson Benge each drove in two runs, with the latter continuing his impressive performance at the plate over the last several games.

Mendoza talked about what he has seen from the offense as of late after scoring 10 runs for the first time since April 3 in San Francisco.

"They're playing the game the way they're capable. There's a lot of smiles on their faces. It's just good to see them having fun," Mendoza said.

Carlos Mendoza was asked what leads him to believe that the Mets are playing loose and confident right now:

"They're playing the game the way they're capable. There's a lot of smiles on their faces. It's just good to see them having fun" pic.twitter.com/hSeHd3fs5g
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 7, 2026

The Mets have now won three straight games and have won back-to-back series for the first time since the beginning of April.

After getting swept at home by the Rockies just two weeks ago, the Mets will look to return the favor on Thursday at Coors Field. Christian Scott gets the nod for New York in the series finale, looking to build off his strong outing against the Los Angeles Angels last Saturday.

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