Juan Soto and the Mets Gave Up the Most Embarrassing Little League Home Run You’ll See All Year
The New York Mets gave up a Little League home run on Sunday night. Juan Soto was at the center of it. The video is making the rounds, and it is exactly as bad as you think.
Toronto’s George Springer hit a routine fly ball to right field in the seventh inning. Soto, playing the position with all the urgency of a man trying to skip a workout, took a casual route to the ball. He bobbled it. He kicked it. He chased it down the line. He flipped it back to the infield late. Springer rounded third while Soto was still recovering his footing.
By the time the ball got back to home plate, Springer was sliding in safely. A single turned into a four-base error. The Mets lost the game 7-4.
Mets fans, who pay $51 million a year for Soto to be a generational right fielder, were not amused.
Soto, to his credit, did not duck the questions after the game. “I should have made that play,” he told reporters. “I tried to be too casual. I owe my pitcher better than that.”
The accountability is nice. It does not change the fact that this is the third high-profile defensive miscue of Soto’s first half. He has minus-4 defensive runs saved according to Baseball Reference. He ranks in the bottom 10% of right fielders in arm strength. He is having a fantastic offensive season, slashing .298/.422/.575 with 22 home runs, but the defensive concerns are real.
The bigger picture for the Mets is more concerning. New York is 41-39 after their loss to Toronto. They are 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East. The bullpen has been a disaster. The starting rotation is inconsistent. Manager Carlos Mendoza was fired earlier this month and replaced by interim skipper Andy Green.
Soto’s contract makes him untouchable. He is locked in through 2039 with a $51 million annual cap hit. Nobody is benching him. Nobody is moving him to first base. The Mets are going to live with the defensive ups and downs because the offensive production justifies it.
But the plays like Sunday night’s are eroding the goodwill. Mets fans have been famously patient with their stars and famously brutal when they are not. Soto is starting to drift into the brutal category in some corners of social media.
The play also tells you something about the team’s larger problem. The Mets are not focused. They are not playing fundamental baseball. The vibes are off. Mendoza got fired in part because the clubhouse felt like it had lost its edge.
Andy Green has a chance to turn this around. He is a respected baseball man who managed the Padres for four seasons. He knows the National League. He is direct. He communicates well. The Mets need that kind of leadership right now.
But if Soto keeps giving away outs in the field, no manager can save this team. He needs to play better defense. The Mets need him to play better defense. And one of these days, Soto is going to have to start treating right field like the position it is, not like a place he stands when his team is on defense.
One bad play does not define a season. Three of them in two months might.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
