The 15-year, $765 million deal Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets may not be quite enough to compel a consistent effort from the 26-year-old slugger.
After allegedly being slow out of the batter’s box during his recent return to Yankee Stadium, Soto made a similar mistake in Boston on Monday night.
Soto took Red Sox south Justin Wilson deep to left in the sixth inning of a 3-1 loss at Fenway. But after standing at home plate for a moment, Soto noticed the ball wouldn’t clear the 37-foot-high Green Monster and consequently managed only a single.
Although he would go on to steal second, effectively making up for his mistake, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza wasn’t looking to turn the page after Monday’s loss.
‘We’ll talk to him about it,’ Mendoza told reporters.
To be fair, the wind was blowing in from left on Monday at Fenway, but Mendoza wasn’t ready to make excuses for his biggest star.
Juan Soto is seen watching what he thought was a home run before it turned into a single
Soto, 26, has seen his batting average and bat speed dip since signing with the Mets
‘Tonight, obviously, if someone gets a hold of one and knows when he gets it, it’s Juan,’ Mendoza continued. ‘He thought he had it. With the wind and all that, in this ballpark – anywhere, in any one, but particularly in this one with that wall right there – you’ve got to get out of the box.’
Soto’s 1-for-4 performance on Monday followed his dreadful 1-for-10 showing as the Mets dropped two of three games to the Yankees in the Bronx over the weekend.
On Monday, Soto disagreed with the suggestion he failed to hustle out of the box against the Yankees and Red Sox.
‘I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard,’ he said. ‘If you see it today, you could tell’
Not only was Soto booed throughout last weekend’s series, but he also skipped out on an in-game ESPN interview that had previously been announced. Then he skirted Sunday’s post-game media availability entirely.
According to beat writers, Soto told reporters he’d take questions shortly after seeing family members outside of the Mets locker room, only to leave the clubhouse for the rest of the evening.
‘These are troubling signs for the Mets’ hierarchy,’ NJ.com’s Bob Klapisch wrote. ‘I’m told they’re concerned about Soto’s lack of enthusiasm for his new team.’
Soto was also caught dogging it down the first base line on Sunday in the Bronx, sparking anger among some fans.
With Sunday night’s game level at 2-2 at the top of the eighth, Soto drilled a ball up the middle that was stabbed by second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
As LeMahieu relayed the ball to first, Soto still wasn’t halfway down the line.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cody Bellinger – who the Yankees traded for after Soto left – hit a Grand Slam to lead New York to victory.
‘Juan Soto obviously should have hustled here. Not sure what he was thinking,’ Mets writer Ben Yoel wrote on X.
Soto’s batting average and bat speed have both dipped in 2025, but his .376 on-base percentage remains strong, even if it’s 43 points below the impressive mark he put up in his lone season with the Yankees last year.