Jun 10, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) hits a solo home run against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The New York Mets are surging — and Juan Soto is starting to look like the $765 million man they signed him to be.
In Tuesday night’s 5–4 comeback win over the Washington Nationals, Soto delivered one of his most complete performances of the season, reminding everyone why he’s one of the game’s most feared hitters. The signature moment came in the bottom of the third: with the Mets trailing early, Soto stepped into the box, locked eyes with Nats starter MacKenzie Gore, and sent a frozen rope over the left-field fence for a solo home run — opposite field, of course.
There was a brief exchange between Soto and Gore as he rounded the bases, but Soto downplayed it postgame.
“We were just saying ‘hi’ to each other. That’s it,” he said with a smirk.
Juan Soto was asked if he was jawing at MacKenzie Gore while rounding third base on his homer:
That homer — and that edge — are exactly what the Mets were hoping for when they inked Soto to a 15-year, $765 million deal this offseason. After a rocky start to 2025 that saw Soto pressing at the plate, the 26-year-old is settling in — and the timing couldn’t be better.
Over his last 12 games, Soto has been red hot. Per SNY’s Ben Krimmel, he’s hitting .341 (14-for-41) with four home runs, eight RBIs, 14 runs, three doubles, and 14 walks. That’s vintage Soto — patient, powerful, and relentless.
Advanced metrics suggest this tear was coming. Even while he was slumping on paper, Baseball Savant had Soto ranked third in all of MLB in expected weighted on-base average (.437), trailing only Aaron Judge. Translation: the quality of contact has been there — the results are finally catching up.
And on Tuesday night, they showed up again — in more ways than one.
In the eighth inning, with the Mets trailing, Soto delivered a high fly ball that dropped in front of a misjudging Robert Hassell III. It wasn’t the hardest-hit ball of the night, but it sparked a game-tying rally and brought Citi Field to life.
Jun 10, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates his RBI double against the Washington Nationals during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“How things are going, I definitely was hoping [it] got down,” Soto said after the game. “I thought the ball was a little farther than it went, but got it done.”
That’s been the theme lately — getting it done.
After hovering around mediocrity to start the season, the Mets have now won 9 of their last 11 to improve to 43–24. Soto has been in the middle of it all, entering Wednesday ranked third on the team in OPS (.840), third in home runs (12), and fourth in RBIs (33). More importantly, he’s finding joy in the game again — and that’s showing up in the box score.
“Little by little, we just gotta be patient,” Soto said. “Keep doing my thing… I’m really happy, I’m just gonna try and keep it the same way.”
If this is Soto settling in for good, the rest of the National League should take notice. A confident, locked-in Juan Soto could be the difference between a hot streak — and a pennant run.
