Things are going great for the Mets, and they will even be better if Soto warms up with the New York weather.
Mets owner Steve Cohen celebrated his 69th birthday by attending the Mets’ home game against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, and the team celebrated with a 5-0 victory over the Nationals. David Peterson pitched a complete-game shutout, Brandon Nimmo homered twice, Juan Soto homered once, and Pete Alonso got a major-league high 63rd RBI.
Cohen should be feeling good about the Mets. They are in a great place after winning five in a row and 14 of the last 17 games, to put them 20 games over .500 (44-24), which is the best record in Major League Baseball. They are also five games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East.
What a season it has been!
But here’s the thing: It will be even better if Soto starts doing Soto things, and that could be in the offing when you look at how he has been playing lately. Soto has homered five times in the last 11 games, is hitting .382 with a 1.336 OPS over 47 plate appearances in June, and has had multiple hits in four of his previous five appearances.
Soto has been taking better at-bats lately, such as drawing walks, and he is starting to find holes after being robbed over the first two months of the season. Most importantly, he is comfortable at the plate and in the dugout. He is finding himself after two months of adjusting to life as a Met.
We shouldn’t be surprised. As Buck Showalter would say, count on a player’s track record when it comes to figuring it out despite a rough stretch. Soto is too talented to let his slump go on forever, and I figured Soto would start feeling comfortable like most hitters once the weather gets warmer.
Graphic courtesy Yahoo! Sports
Surprisingly, the Mets slugger expressed frustration early on when things did not go his way. But that’s understandable; he’s trying to justify his new contract and make an impression on the Mets fans and his new teammates. While he didn’t stand out during the series with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium last month, Soto will have an opportunity to make amends when the two teams tangle over the 4th of July weekend at Citi Field.
The bottom line is this. Despite promising results lately, the season hasn’t gone well for Soto overall. He is hitting .252 with a slash line of .387/.467/.854 and 13 home runs and 35 RBI. He should be on pace to hit 35 home runs and have 100 RBIs. That would qualify as a good season. Even better would be for him to have a great postseason, and that prospect is one of the reasons the Mets made him the highest-paid player with a 15-year, $765 million deal.
The stakes are high because these Mets could have a memorable summer. The team can dominate in the NL East, Alonso has a chance to break Darryl Strawberry’s franchise home run record of 252, and the pitching has been terrific (MLB-best 2.82 ERA).
But above everything else, it’s about Soto. If he stays hot and has the season Cohen imagined, the Mets can win the World Series. That’s why Soto’s resurgence comes at the right time. The Mets play the Atlanta Braves and the Phillies on the road next week. If Soto keeps raking, the Mets can be up by 10 games in the division by the time next week is over.
That’s another way of saying the hope is that Soto will put the slow start behind him. If he does, Mets fans can think about October possibilities.
