BOSTON — It’s as loud as it’s ever been around Juan Soto.
Over the past five days, Soto’s not-quite-right start to his first season with the New York Mets has been placed under the microscope with the zoom amplified. Following an inhospitable weekend in the Bronx, Soto’s Monday in Boston included an erroneous rumor spread on talk radio and another instance in which he failed to hustle out of the box — with Soto and manager Carlos Mendoza taking different approaches to addressing that lack of effort after the game.
Advertisement
“There is a lot of noise right now,” Mendoza said Tuesday.
Mendoza was trying his best to tamp down the volume. After the game on Monday, the manager said he’d chat with Soto about getting out of the box quicker, especially on balls to left field at Fenway Park. A day later, Mendoza declined to detail the back-and-forth, or even whether it happened.
“We’ll keep that in house,” Mendoza said. “One thing I will tell you, as a manager, it’s my job to continue to coach him, continue to support him, continue to teach him. We’ll continue to do that. It’s the same thing we’ve been doing since Day 1.”
Juan Soto: I was once the highest paid player and it took me a while to adjust. Nobody thinks about the human inside the uniform. There are things that can get you distracted. We forget how young he is. #mlbontbs
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) May 20, 2025
After Monday’s loss, Soto expressed no remorse about being slow out of the box. “I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard,” he said. “If you see it today, you could tell.”
While Monday’s lack of hustle wasn’t egregious — and Soto even stole second to make up for it — the problem was that it came on the heels of another example on Sunday night. In that one, Soto trotted out of the box on a groundball to the right side that required a diving play from Yankees second baseman D.J. LeMahieu to record the out.
Mendoza attributed Soto’s postgame comments Monday to “frustration.”
“Over the past couple of days, he’s been through a lot,” Mendoza said, alluding to Soto’s return to the Bronx over the weekend. “Right now, it feels like maybe he could do a little bit more for the team, and that’s part of it. That’s part of the conversation here. At the same time, a guy like that wants to be challenged and wants to be coached. That’s what makes him special.”
Advertisement
While this isn’t Soto’s first season in New York, it is the first stretch that has paired on-field struggles with off-the-field drama. Although Soto’s overall numbers are solid, he has only one hit with a runner in scoring position over the past month. He hasn’t been deploying his characteristic “Soto Shuffle” in between pitches. He hasn’t often looked like the player who earned the largest contract in sports history. While in Boston, Soto spoke with The Athletic about how impressed he was by a presentation from the Red Sox during his free agency.
And it hasn’t helped that the Mets themselves are scuffling for the first time this season, losers of four of the last five to fall out of first place.
“When you sign that type of contract, there’s going to be more eyes on you. He knows that and he embraces that,” Mendoza said. “The little things are not going to be little here in New York. We just have to learn how to deal with it, embrace it, keep moving forward and learn from different situations and experiences.”
In general, the Mets don’t fret too much about how a player will fit into their market. But they do contemplate it more when it comes to a star-level player, upon whom the spotlight figures to be more intense. Soto is far from the first Met to feel this type of heat early in his tenure with the club. Carlos Beltrán, Edwin Díaz and Francisco Lindor all rebounded from tough first seasons. The goal for the Mets is that Soto feels more like himself sooner.
“It starts with me as a manager. My job is to block that noise,” Mendoza said. “We’ll be together, we’ll stay together, we’ll have each other’s backs here and we’ll block all that noise. That’s all it is: It’s noise.”
(Top photo of Juan Soto: John Jones / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Giants’ Logan Webb out to further stymie Royals’ hitters
May 4, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Logan Webb will hope to prolong the Kansas City Royals' offensive slump and earn the San Francisco Giants their sixth win to close a nine-game homestand when he takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon. The clubs have split the first two games of their low-scoring interleague series, with the Royals prevailing 3-1 on Monday before falling 3-2 in the rematch on Tuesday. Kansas City has scored three or fewer runs in 10 of its last 11 games, a stretch in which the Royals have gone just 4-7. They've totaled just four home runs over the drought, with Vinnie Pasquantino launching two of them, including a difference-making […]
Transfer-Coup – Füchse haben diesen Star im Visier
Die Füchse Berlin gehen stramm auf die erste Meisterschaft der Vereinsgeschichte zu. Gewinnen die Berliner die letzten vier Spiele in der Daikin Handball-Bundesliga, ist die Mannschaft von Trainer Jaron Siewert (31) nicht mehr einzuholen.Sportdirektor Stefan Kretzschmar (52) betont seit Monaten: „Eigentlich spielen die Jungs Woche für Woche über ihre Verhältnisse. Mathias Gidsel und Lasse Andersson können eigentlich nicht mehr besser spielen, die sind schon Top-Level. An ihrer Seite sind die jungen Spieler wie Nils Lichtlein, Matthes Langhoff oder Tim Freihöfer unheimlich schnell gewachsen. Das war so nicht zu erwarten in der Qualität.“Er kann es selbst kaum fassen: Spektakulärer Blackout von Handball-Weltmeister<!-->[-->Quelle: BILD/Dyn20.05.2025Und Kretzschmar erklärt weiter: „Aber die internationalen Spieler geben unseren Jungen auch die Freiräume sich entwickeln zu können, denn wir brauchen von der Kaderstruktur und Kaderstärke diese Spieler. Es ist schön zu sehen, weil Gidsel und die anderen abliefern […]
Jacob Murphy interview: ‘I hope England are casting an eye on what I’m doing’
Jacob Murphy talks about “callusing the mind” and it is an intriguing phrase. Just as skin can be toughened through manual labour, so the brain can be rewired to plough through difficulty. Although Murphy is speaking about himself, it applies just as much to Newcastle United, a club newly transformed from perennial losers into ice-cold winners.AdvertisementAmid stiff competition, Murphy has a strong claim for Newcastle’s most compelling story this season. He might be the Premier League’s most underrated player (last month, The Athletic used his photograph to illustrate an article discussing that subject), and he is definitely its most meme-able, but reappraisal is overdue.How about this: Murphy is a Newcastle legend. By virtue of winning the Carabao Cup in March, the club’s first domestic trophy for 70 years, he and his team-mates automatically become history boys. Yet winning has meant […]
Archer to miss West Indies ODI series with thumb injury
England fast bowler Jofra Archer will miss the one-day international series against West Indies with a thumb injury that also threatens to delay a potential return to Test cricket.Archer will sit out the three ODIs between May 29 and June 3 and has been replaced in the squad by Lancashire left-armer Luke Wood. The 30-year-old will be reassessed by the England medical team over the next fortnight but is perhaps also a doubt for England Lions' red-ball game against India A in Northampton from June 6.Archer was left out of the T20 leg of the West Indies series having been earmarked to feature for the Lions at the same time ahead of potential involvement in the Test series against India, which begins at Headingley on June 20. Image: Archer has been playing in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals The paceman […]
Riakporhe: Only one man can threaten my heavyweight takeover
Richard Riakporhe is revelling in the opportunity to trade blows with the very best heavyweights in the world and reckons he has the beating of all but one of them.The 35-year-old, who marked his heavyweight debut with a stoppage of Kevin Nicolas Espindola this month, is adamant that Oleksandr Usyk is the only one out of a stellar list of names that he wouldn't back himself against. When presented with a list of names ranging from Anthony Joshua to Tyson Fury, and from Joseph Parker to Daniel Dubois, Riakporhe remarked "I'll beat him" to each and every one. Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or […]
Do B ao A: em 4 pontos, o raio-x da crise do Boca Juniors a menos de um mês do Mundial de Clubes
A falta de um diretor técnico dedicado; a decadência de uma gestão que empolgou milhares de torcedores; o colapso em jogos importantes; e um clima tenso compõem uma mistura explosiva de ingredientes que explicam a crise do Boca Juniors na Argentina. Lúcio: UTI, 18% do corpo queimado e membros enfaixados; veja o que se sabe do estado de saúde de pentacampeãoCristiano Ronaldo descobre idade metabólica 11 anos mais jovem e afirma: 'Jogarei por mais 10' Um acróstico da AFP explora o péssimo desempenho do popular clube argentino, que sofreu um novo revés nesta segunda-feira ao ser eliminado (1 a 0) pelo Independiente nas quartas de final do torneio local Apertura-2025. B de Banco Uma das maiores críticas feitas ao ídolo e presidente do clube, Juan Román Riquelme, é a sua incapacidade de contratar um técnico após Fernando Gago, demitido há […]
Related
Giants’ Logan Webb out to further stymie Royals’ hitters
May 4, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Logan Webb will hope to prolong the Kansas City Royals' offensive slump and earn the San Francisco Giants their sixth win to close a nine-game homestand when he takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon. The clubs have split the first two games of their low-scoring interleague series, with the Royals prevailing 3-1 on Monday before falling 3-2 in the rematch on Tuesday. Kansas City has scored three or fewer runs in 10 of its last 11 games, a stretch in which the Royals have gone just 4-7. They've totaled just four home runs over the drought, with Vinnie Pasquantino launching two of them, including a difference-making […]
Transfer-Coup – Füchse haben diesen Star im Visier
Die Füchse Berlin gehen stramm auf die erste Meisterschaft der Vereinsgeschichte zu. Gewinnen die Berliner die letzten vier Spiele in der Daikin Handball-Bundesliga, ist die Mannschaft von Trainer Jaron Siewert (31) nicht mehr einzuholen.Sportdirektor Stefan Kretzschmar (52) betont seit Monaten: „Eigentlich spielen die Jungs Woche für Woche über ihre Verhältnisse. Mathias Gidsel und Lasse Andersson können eigentlich nicht mehr besser spielen, die sind schon Top-Level. An ihrer Seite sind die jungen Spieler wie Nils Lichtlein, Matthes Langhoff oder Tim Freihöfer unheimlich schnell gewachsen. Das war so nicht zu erwarten in der Qualität.“Er kann es selbst kaum fassen: Spektakulärer Blackout von Handball-Weltmeister<!-->[-->Quelle: BILD/Dyn20.05.2025Und Kretzschmar erklärt weiter: „Aber die internationalen Spieler geben unseren Jungen auch die Freiräume sich entwickeln zu können, denn wir brauchen von der Kaderstruktur und Kaderstärke diese Spieler. Es ist schön zu sehen, weil Gidsel und die anderen abliefern […]
Jacob Murphy interview: ‘I hope England are casting an eye on what I’m doing’
Jacob Murphy talks about “callusing the mind” and it is an intriguing phrase. Just as skin can be toughened through manual labour, so the brain can be rewired to plough through difficulty. Although Murphy is speaking about himself, it applies just as much to Newcastle United, a club newly transformed from perennial losers into ice-cold winners.AdvertisementAmid stiff competition, Murphy has a strong claim for Newcastle’s most compelling story this season. He might be the Premier League’s most underrated player (last month, The Athletic used his photograph to illustrate an article discussing that subject), and he is definitely its most meme-able, but reappraisal is overdue.How about this: Murphy is a Newcastle legend. By virtue of winning the Carabao Cup in March, the club’s first domestic trophy for 70 years, he and his team-mates automatically become history boys. Yet winning has meant […]
Riakporhe: Only one man can threaten my heavyweight takeover
Richard Riakporhe is revelling in the opportunity to trade blows with the very best heavyweights in the world and reckons he has the beating of all but one of them.The 35-year-old, who marked his heavyweight debut with a stoppage of Kevin Nicolas Espindola this month, is adamant that Oleksandr Usyk is the only one out of a stellar list of names that he wouldn't back himself against. When presented with a list of names ranging from Anthony Joshua to Tyson Fury, and from Joseph Parker to Daniel Dubois, Riakporhe remarked "I'll beat him" to each and every one. Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or […]
Archer to miss West Indies ODI series with thumb injury
England fast bowler Jofra Archer will miss the one-day international series against West Indies with a thumb injury that also threatens to delay a potential return to Test cricket.Archer will sit out the three ODIs between May 29 and June 3 and has been replaced in the squad by Lancashire left-armer Luke Wood. The 30-year-old will be reassessed by the England medical team over the next fortnight but is perhaps also a doubt for England Lions' red-ball game against India A in Northampton from June 6.Archer was left out of the T20 leg of the West Indies series having been earmarked to feature for the Lions at the same time ahead of potential involvement in the Test series against India, which begins at Headingley on June 20. Image: Archer has been playing in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals The paceman […]
Do B ao A: em 4 pontos, o raio-x da crise do Boca Juniors a menos de um mês do Mundial de Clubes
A falta de um diretor técnico dedicado; a decadência de uma gestão que empolgou milhares de torcedores; o colapso em jogos importantes; e um clima tenso compõem uma mistura explosiva de ingredientes que explicam a crise do Boca Juniors na Argentina. Lúcio: UTI, 18% do corpo queimado e membros enfaixados; veja o que se sabe do estado de saúde de pentacampeãoCristiano Ronaldo descobre idade metabólica 11 anos mais jovem e afirma: 'Jogarei por mais 10' Um acróstico da AFP explora o péssimo desempenho do popular clube argentino, que sofreu um novo revés nesta segunda-feira ao ser eliminado (1 a 0) pelo Independiente nas quartas de final do torneio local Apertura-2025. B de Banco Uma das maiores críticas feitas ao ídolo e presidente do clube, Juan Román Riquelme, é a sua incapacidade de contratar um técnico após Fernando Gago, demitido há […]
Be the first to leave a comment