Juan Soto Slumps in Performance
Juan Soto’s statistics are showing worrying signs. The star hitter for the New York Mets, currently in a slump, failed to get any hits on Wednesday and also failed to send the ball out of the infield in the 9-4 loss against the Chicago White Sox.
After signing a record $765 million contract in December as a free agent, Soto is batting a modest .224 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 55 games during his first season with the Mets.
The four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner went 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout on Wednesday, in a performance that mirrored the gloomy weather. He was booed by a sparse crowd at Citi Field, where only a few thousand fans attended a hastily rescheduled game.
Due to the forecast of rain, the first launch was moved up six hours on Tuesday. Soto is 0-16 since he hit a two-run double on Saturday in the 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. And nothing seems to be going his way: he lost a hit on a chaotic play on Tuesday night when he was called out for passing his teammate Brandon Nimmo on the bases.Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expressed his confidence in Soto before and after Wednesday’s loss, saying that Soto passes the “eye test” despite what the stats might say about his performance.
Today was one of those days where he didn’t hit the ball hard, but I thought his base, his lower body, was in a better position
Carlos Mendoza
Soto’s batting average has fallen 61 points below his career mark at the start of the season. He hasn’t hit a home run since May 9, a span of 75 plate appearances, and has only seven hits in his last 59 at-bats (.119).
With runners in scoring position this year, he is batting .130 (6-46) with a home run and 16 RBIs.This contrasts with the 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a .989 OPS he recorded with the New York Yankees last season, when he helped the team reach the World Series and finished third in the American League MVP voting.
Soto has been particularly cold since May 16, when he was incessantly booed in his return to Yankee Stadium with the Mets. He seemed to take the harsh reception in stride by removing his helmet to the crowd before his first at-bat, but Soto is batting only .114 (5-44) with one extra-base hit since then.Most advanced metrics suggest that Soto is suffering from bad luck. He ranks in the 90th percentile in several categories on Baseball Savant, although his bat speed ranks in the 73rd percentile, down from the 94th percentile last season.
Soto made three outs on balls hit at least 99 mph in the 6-4 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night.“Yesterday was a perfect example of his season so far: 0-4 with three balls [almost] at 100 mph,” Mendoza said with a smile on Wednesday morning. “Hard to explain. But it’s baseball.
Too good a hitter. Too good a player. Here will be Juan Soto.”
