The best way all the pieces unfolded felt like one thing solely the wizardry of Juan Soto may produce.
Within the hours earlier than the Mets opened a sequence Monday in Minnesota, Soto informed The Put up’s Mike Puma about how pitchers have attacked him in a different way with Pete Alonso ready on-deck versus Aaron Decide final yr. It got here throughout as one thing that teetered on the rationalizing/complaining line, particularly when he used the phrase “best hitter in baseball behind me” to reference Decide when Alonso — hitting .356 with a .729 slugging proportion and rapidly approaching the Mets’ all-time dwelling run report — has orchestrated a robust opening act to 2025, too.
However then Soto went out and homered throughout the Mets’ win, suggesting that simply when the doubts and questions begin stacking up in opposition to a slower-than-expected begin, their $765 million man and generational hitter will discover a option to produce.
That, actually, captured the Mets’ first 16 video games completely. Even with Soto homering solely as soon as in his first 15 video games and counting on walks to achieve base as typically as he does, even with Brett Baty hitting simply .139 and seemingly on the verge of jeopardizing his roster spot within the majors, even with Mark Vientos hitting .138 with zero — zero! — homers after his postseason heroics, the Mets nonetheless led the Nationwide League East.
