New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto had one of the worst games of his MLB career on Wednesday.
The four-time All-Star was a big reason the Mets dropped a 4-3 thriller to the host Minnesota Twins in 10 innings, as he finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and left seven runners on base. It’s likely the worst performance in Soto’s brief Mets career, and while plenty of level-headed fans and reporters have dismissed the former batting title champion’s slow start in Queens, one notable media member went nuclear on Thursday, calling the effort “despicable.”
“Juan Soto has stunk to start his Mets career,” WFAN’s Sal Licata said. “I never thought I would be at this point with Juan Soto, a guy I begged and pleaded the Mets to go get. A guy I wanted more than any player ever in my fandom. I wanted Juan Soto. The Mets delivered. And every single time this guy has come up in a big spot this year, and there have been plenty, he has failed.”
Licata was far from done criticizing the $765 million man.
“And yesterday, a despicable 0-5 with three strikeouts, leaving a small village on the basepaths as the Mets lose a series. You don’t pay $765 million to a guy who gets on base 40% of the time. Bullcrap,” he said. “Every single time he’s come up in a big spot, he has failed this year. He did not do that with the Yankees. I don’t want to hear the excuses from Soto. I don’t want to hear people tell me that the walks are good. I want to start seeing some production. Now!”
New York Sports Anchor Says Soto Has ‘Failed’ in Every ‘Big Spot’ This Season
Soto’s rough Wednesday outing (and in turn, Licata’s explosion) comes less than one month into his 15-year deal with the Mets. It’s also just weeks after Soto made headlines during an interview with ESPN’s Jeff Passan when the former claimed that he was the best hitter of all-time “until you prove me I’m wrong.”
The former World Series winner’s Mets career is still likely in its infancy, and Soto is expected to be one of the leaders in trying to bring the franchise their first NL pennant in 10 years and first championship since 1986.
After spending the first four-plus seasons of his career with the Washington Nationals, one-and-a-half seasons with the San Diego Padres and the 2024 campaign with the New York Yankees, Soto spurned the Bronx Bombers to join their crosstown rivals via his record-breaking contract over the winter. While Soto has put up pedestrian numbers to begin 2025, his former Yankees teammate Aaron Judge is off to an historic start.
Soto Still on Pace For Solid Numbers Despite Apparent Slow Start
The native of the Dominican Republic entered Thursday with three home runs, seven RBI, 14 walks and 12 strikeouts, along with a .231/.367/.431 slash line across 65 at-bats. The numbers aren’t horrible, but very un-Soto-like.
Soto’s registered at least 5.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in each of his campaigns except 2018 — when he made his MLB debut in late May — and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He led the league with a 7.3 WAR in his 2021 NL MVP runner-up campaign.
He has an elite .284/.420/.530 triple slash across 3,345 regular season at-bats covering 954 contests and has recorded over 100 runs scored three times (career-high, league-leading 128 last season) and posted more than 100 RBI thrice as well.
On the opposite end of the Soto argument are plenty of other media members, like Newsday Mets beat reporter Tim Healey and SNY’s Danny Abriano.
“Juan Soto has accumulated 0.8 bWAR and 0.5 fWAR so far. That puts him on pace for 7.2 bWAR and 4.5 fWAR,” Healey wrote on Bluesky. “He has been 31% better than the league-average hitter by OPS+ and 28% better by wRC+. And he hasn’t even gotten hot yet!”
“The ‘Juan Soto bad’ discourse *18 games* into his Mets career is among the most ridiculous things I’ve ever witnessed. Not everything has to be a hot take. Not every bad game portends disaster. ‘Bad’ Soto has a 131 OPS+ & is on pace for: 126 runs 126 walks 27 HR 36 2B,” Abriano added. “In a few weeks, I’m willing to bet he’ll have an OPS above .900 and be pacing for about 40 homers. It’s OK to just watch baseball games and not react after each one like this is the NFL. There are 162 games. It’s April 17.”
Even with Soto’s imperfect start in New York, the team still enters Thursday at 11-7, good enough for first place in the NL East.
Juan Soto Ripped After ‘Despicable’ Performance in Nuclear Rant