No One Knows Why Juan Soto Is Struggling
Being a New York Met is just different. It’s still the New York market, but it’s a different type of pressure which takes more adjustment than we all realize.
Think of every great Mets player signed in free agency or obtained in a trade.
Mike Piazza was booed for his early struggles with the Mets. Carlos Beltrán’s first year with the Mets was a disaster, and he was booed on Opening Day the following year.
Francisco Lindor had a tough first year. He was uncharacteristically unhappy with him taking a hit for the thumbs down drama.
Curtis Granderson went from the New York Yankees to the Mets. Granderson flourished with the Yankees only to mightily struggle his first year with the Mets.
In year two, Granderson led the Mets to a pennant. He became very good and beloved Met. He may be instructive for Juan Soto.
At the moment, Soto looks like he’s going to have his worst year since his first year in San Diego. The lack of hustle is starting to become an issue. Mostly, he’s just not Soto.
Look, it’s not just the hitting. We’re not seeing the smile or that Soto shuffle. Part of that can be adjustment. Part can be he’s fighting through a slump. Maybe it’s the weight of the contract.
Per Michael Kay, he says it’s because Soto really wanted to be a Yankee, and he’s not happy being a Met. He went on to say he wanted to be a Yankee, but he went to the Mets because that’s what his family wanted.
Now, we can’t challenge Kay because he said the Mets sources he got it from will just deny it like they should.
To some degree, this is just piggybacking other reporting. Bob Klapisch of nj.com reported the Mets were concerned Soto wasn’t showing enthusiasm for being a Met, and that Soto seemed his happiest meeting up with his former Yankee teammates during the Subway Series. He said of Soto, “The man is downright miserable.”
Andy Marino of SNY reported Soto was having his issues adjusting to life as a Met, and he has had Starling Marte help him adjust. Unlike Kay or Klapish, Martino didn’t use the story to draw conclusions
Here’s what we know. Soto is struggling, and on the surface, he appears unhappy. Before rushing to conclusions, ask yourself one question – Have you ever seen a baseball player in a bad slump looking happy?
Take Pete Alonso. He’s having an MVP caliber start to the 2025 season. He made bad throwing errors in consecutive games. He threw his glove and was visibly upset in the Mets dugout.
Struggling players are fundamentally unhappy. When they stop struggling, they’re more at ease and more themselves.
We can all try to pinpoint why Soto is struggling. We can blame his family. We can make up whatever nonsense we want.
The truth is no one knows why Soto is struggling. Odds are Soto hasn’t quite figured it out himself because if he did, he probably would’ve fixed it.
Soto is a great player. He’s a future Hall of Famer. Stop playing pop psychologist and assign blame. Baseball is hard, and even the greatest struggle.
Soto will be great because he is great. We will eventually forget this stretch and laugh at those pretending to be informed.