Juan Soto Starts May Off With a Bang

Watching Juan Soto’s at-bats on Thursday, you’d never guess he’d spent most of April stuck in a frustrating power slump that left (some) fans underwhelmed. All you’d see were two flawless swings from the left side—swings that led him to his first and second Citi Field home runs as a Met.

With one out in the sixth, Soto pounced on a middle-middle cutter from Zac Gallen and crushed it to left-center. The ball left his bat at 106.4 mph. But he wasn’t done yet.

With New York trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning, Soto was involved in an eight-pitch battle, fouling off four before launching a Kevin Ginkel fastball into the left-center seats. The ball left his bat at 109.6 mph and traveled 399 feet.

After the game, Soto looked at his opposite-field shots as promising signs for the future.

“It’s a good sign,” he said.

Manager Carlos Mendoza agreed with that sentiment postgame as well.

“He is not only hitting balls in the air, he is going in that direction – left-center. He is a pretty dangerous hitter. It was good to see that today,” he said.

And even with his early struggles, Soto stayed stoic after his two-homer day.

“What pressure? I don’t have any pressure,” he said.

Of course, he’s the $765 million man, so naturally expectations have been sky-high. Before Thursday, Soto carried a somewhat pedestrian .752 OPS, though it came with a .368 OBP. Signs of a breakout had, however, been building. Six of his last seven batted balls in play (before Thursday) were hit over 98 mph, and exactly zero landed for a hit. On Thursday, the results finally caught up to the quality of contact, and Soto capitalized.

“It’s always good to see it. We knew he was close,” Mendoza said after the game.

“All he had to do was flip the calendar page to the month of May,” SNY play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen remarked after Soto’s first homer.

And yes, the Mets did lose the game. Lackluster production from the rest of the offense—especially with runners in scoring position—let the team down. A hot Soto alone won’t carry a slumping lineup. Still, it’s hard not to be encouraged seeing him finally get rewarded for the great swings he’s been putting together.

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