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.
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“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.”
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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 .
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Connections: Sports Edition hints for May 21, 2025, puzzle No. 240
Need help with today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You’ve come to the right place.Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes one answer in each of the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing.AdvertisementYou can access Wednesday’s game here.Game No. 240’s difficulty: 4 out of 5HintsScroll below for one answer in each of the four categories.....................Yellow: QUARTERGreen: NICKELBlue: DIMEPurple: PENNYThe next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments!(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic)
Connections: Sports Edition hints for May 21, 2025, puzzle No. 240
Need help with today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You’ve come to the right place.Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes one answer in each of the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing.AdvertisementYou can access Wednesday’s game here.Game No. 240’s difficulty: 4 out of 5HintsScroll below for one answer in each of the four categories.....................Yellow: QUARTERGreen: NICKELBlue: DIMEPurple: PENNYThe next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments!(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic)
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