As the season continues, many know the that Juan Soto hasn’t performed well to begin the season. Soto has an mediocre average, is only on pace for 25 home runs, and is living in the shadow of stars like Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. However, as criticism mounts, here is the reality about Soto.
Soto’s Underwhelming Start For the Mets So Far
He Will Be Back to All-Star Form
If one decides to shred Soto for his not so good start, then that person doesn’t know baseball. First, the Mets are barely 35 games into the season, which is not long enough to criticize such a star for his start. Soto, before the final game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was on pace for 16 home runs. After the game, he raised that quickly. If you know the sport of baseball, then you know that a hot streak is soon coming. Last season, Lindor got off to an abysmal start. However, Lindor quickly fixed that by becoming an MVP-caliber player.
Lindor literally hit five homer’s in the course of four games at one point last season. Hot streaks can happen at any moment during the season. And Soto is an even better hitter than Lindor. Expect Soto to breakout soon to say the least. He might not hit .288 with 41 home runs, especially since he isn’t batting before Aaron Judge and doesn’t have a short right field deck (The Yankee’s do). However, regardless, Soto being simply Soto is what the Mets need. Once he starts a hot streak, the Mets will follow with a winning streak.
Soto Has Joined a Better Team
Technically, Soto might not be as productive last year for one reason: the Mets have a better team than the Yankee’s. Sure, Judge is great. However, enter Anthony Volpe, Alex Verdugo, and other’s, the Yankee’s had a bad end to their lineup last year. The Mets have Lindor, Alonso, Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Alvarez (he’s a star, injury has largely gotten in the way), and Jeff McNeil, even Tyrone Taylor isn’t a bad offensive player with some stellar defense.
The Mets lineup is better than the Yankees, which could be a reason why Soto isn’t being pitched to. Now, he has grounded into many double plays and has also just performed not too well for the Mets. You can’t make too many excuse’s when Lindor is an amazing leadoff man and Soto has done nothing with him.
However, again, there is no doubt, Soto will be back to star form. Some issue’s that remain with him so far this season include not driving in runs. He has had back-to-back 109 RBI seasons. However, so far this season, Soto has driven in just 14 RBI’s. Once the Mets’ star begins to drive runs in, then things will get much better for Soto and New York. One thing is for sure, true stars always turn on, and Soto is a true star. True stars perform well under pressure, and Soto performs well under pressure (11 homers in just 43 games in the postseason, Judge should take notes).
Overall, Soto’s criticism’s are warranted. He has not performed well to start the season. Double plays, groundouts, and even strikeout’s feel too often. However, as all true stars do, Soto will breakout. Thinking that he will suddenly drop dead isn’t warranted. With 129 game’s remaining, to panic is just dumb.
Main Image: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
