2025 Report Card: Gregory Soto, LHP

Gregory Soto, LHP

Age: 30 (2/11/1995) B/T: L/L

Primary Stats (w/NYM): 25 G, 1-3, 4.50 ERA, 1.625 WHIP, 24 IP, 26 SO, 6 BB

Advanced Stats (w/NYM): 91 ERA+, 21.8 K%, 5.0 BB%, 4.41 xERA, 3.55 FIP, 4.14 xFIP, 0.2 fWAR, -0.4 bWAR

2025 Salary: $5.35 million.

Grade: C-

2025 Review

When acquired at the trade deadline for prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster, the Mets were hoping that Gregory Soto could be another dependable lefty reliever who could dominate left-handed hitters and get outs in high-leverage spots before Edwin Diaz. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Soto’s time with the Mets actually started very well. In the month of August, Soto had a 1.64 ERA over 11 IP, despite giving up 15 baserunners. However, it was all downhill from there. In the month of September, Soto’s ERA jumped to a jaw-dropping 7.94, and opponent OPS jumped to .924. Essentially, the hitters he faced in September produced at the same rate as Juan Soto. In case anyone is wondering, that’s not good. The 20 hits given up in September trailed only Thomas Hatch for most hits allowed by a reliever in September. The Mets’ bullpen needed him to step up and be the guy they traded for, but he just could not get anyone out.

What is so interesting about Soto’s struggles is that he was able to really cut down his walk rate – it was just 5% with the Mets, against a career 11.4% walk rate is a real improvement, one that I did not expect him to make. So why did he struggle? Two reasons: He could not get anyone out with anything that wasn’t a breaking ball, and he could not strand inherited runners. In 2025, opponents hit .314 off of his sinker and .417 off of his four-seam fastball, compared to .156 for his slider and .111 for his sweeper. His fastball and sinker were important pitches against right-handed hitters, and not being effective with them led to major issues against right-handers. Second, 43% of all inherited runners scored against Soto in his time on the Mets. For context, this would have put him tied for the 24th-worst rate of any qualified reliever in MLB. As a reliever, being able to come in and strand runners is an incredibly important job. Unfortunately for Mets fans, this was a job that he could not do.

Overall, Soto’s Mets tenure fit in with the majority of the other relievers this year. It was frustrating, underwhelming, and ultimately disappointing for someone who was supposed to stabilize the bullpen after the deadline. While Soto wasn’t the biggest problem in the Mets’ bullpen, he was absolutely a major piece in the collapse down the stretch.

2026 Outlook

Soto enters 2026 as an unrestricted free agent. Being a lefty, there will always be a market for him. However, I am not sure that he will be a player the Mets are wanting to bring back. Soto’s numbers have been underwhelming in back-to-back years, and his numbers under the hood are no better. With Brooks Raley, the likely return of A.J. Minter, and the emergence of Brandon Waddell, I don’t expect the Mets to be looking to bring Soto back. Despite the impending shakeup of the Mets’ bullpen, I expect Gregory Soto’s tenure with the New York Mets to be over.

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