Juan Soto’s bad week continues to get worse.
Amid speculation he is unhappy playing for the New York Mets, and criticisms of his lack of hustle after an embarrassing episode at Fenway Park, Soto was dubbed one of the biggest early-season disappointments by USA Today.
“Soto is yet to really get going, currently with career-low marks in OBP (.374) and slugging (.429) through his first 49 games with the Mets,” staff writer Jesse Yomtov wrote Thursday, “and his hustle – or lack thereof – has already been called into question after a pair of perceived lapses in recent days.”
Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract this offseason, the richest contract in pro-sports history. His .804 OPS is nearly 200 points lower than the one he posted in his lone season with the rival New York Yankees last season (.989), when he finished third in AL MVP voting.
“When you sign that type of contract, there’s going to be more eyes on you,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, according to USA Today. “He knows that and embraces it.”
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Soto’s unhappiness has come into question over the past week after New York sports writers and personalities reported that he is glum and was upset over how Yankees fans chided him at the Mets’ series over the weekend.
Between those reports, along with a pair of slow-moving trips out of the batter’s box this week and his denial of any wrong-doing either at Fenway or Yankee Stadium, Mets fans aren’t exactly infatuated with their star outfielder.
But unlike Mets fans, who are traditionally anxious by nature, Soto’s manager is not concerned.
“He’s human,” Mendoza said. “He’s gonna be fine. He’s Juan Soto.”
Between the rain and chilly conditions in New York, plus pressure and Soto’s typical difficulty hitting in March and April, the outfielder’s struggles are not surprising. Soto has career lows in homers (28), RBIs (83) and OPS (.848) over in March and April in his career but tends to break out as the weather heats up.
Plus, Soto, a career .287 hitter with runners in scoring position, can’t possibly continue his current mark of .128.
Other Disappointments
Aside from Soto, USA Today singled out the depressing Baltimore Orioles as its other most disappointing early-season storyline.
“Manager Brandon Hyde was fired, paying the price for the 2023 AL East champions’ inexplicable winter inactivity, falling further out of the division race just about every single day, bottoming out at 15-32,” Yomtov wrote. “The team’s 5.45 ERA is the worst mark in the AL and the offense hasn’t been much better, ranking near the bottom of baseball in OPS.”
Baltimore, which won 91 games a season ago and only finished three games back of the American League-champion Yankees in the AL East standings a season ago, is in last place and sits 13.5 games behind New York.
Baseball Reference gives the Orioles a <0.1 percent chance of qualifying for the playoffs, since they sit 10 games out of the final wild-card spot as we reach Memorial Day weekend.
“You go back to last June, we were on top of the sport in almost every facet of the sport, including majors and minors,” GM Mike Elias told reporters at his first media availability after Hyde was fired. “Now we find ourselves where we find ourselves. This has been hitting us all very hard, but it’s unusual for that to be so sudden.”
Mets Star Dubbed an ‘Early Disappointment’ Amid Recent Criticism