Juan Soto reveals 2 places he should improve for second-half of Mets season

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If New York Mets fans had been told that Juan Soto was not going to be named to the NL's 2025 MLB All-Star team roster on June 1, they would not have been surprised. Fast forward about six weeks, however, and he's largely considered the biggest All-Star snub.
This is owed to him being the National League's best hitter for the past month or so, which is shown by his staggering .314 average, 1.131 OPS, and 12 home runs in his past 30 games, including a majestic bomb during the Mets' 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on July 12.
Juan Soto into the FOUNTAINS 😤 pic.twitter.com/a4pzKvqdNo
— MLB (@MLB) July 12, 2025
Despite Soto exceeding even his own lofty standards at the plate, that doesn't mean he has been perfect in other areas of the game. And he admitted as much when speaking with the media after Saturday's win.
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When asked what he's happiest with from the season's first half and what he'd like to improve in the second half, Soto said, "I feel like my power has shown up in the first half, so I feel like I'm happy that way... Definitely feel good, because the power is there. I've just got to keep making good decisions... finding some holes, and going from there," per an X post from SNY.
"I'm just gonna try to keep improving my game after the first half. Definitely keep improving on the baserunning standpoint, and in the outfield, defense," he added.
Juan Soto feels that his power surge is one of the stronger elements of his game in the first half of the season
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 12, 2025
He notes baserunning and outfield defense as what he wants to improve on in the second half pic.twitter.com/l0M0Ivo7ed
While Soto's baserunning has been average, according to Baseball Savant, he has been one of the worst right fielders in all of baseball from a defensive standpoint. This is shown by him having -10 outs above average.
However, Mets fans will live with poor defense from Soto if he keeps his hitting form up.
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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.