It's Juan Soto appreciation day!
Plus, Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor both had productive rehab outings on Friday night
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were off on Friday due to a scheduling conflict with the World Cup. They will resume their series against the Phillies tonight
OF Juan Soto has been experimenting with a new bat in order to quicken his swing, with the results already starting to show (SNY)
SS Francisco Lindor’s impending return could be just the boost the Mets need with a critical juncture fast approaching (NY Post)
Injury Updates 🩺
SS Francisco Lindor (calf strain) went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored in his first rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton on Friday night. Lindor also made a nice defensive play before making his scheduled exit from the game before the seventh. Lindor will rest on Saturday before playing in another rehab game on Sunday with either Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Syracuse, weather dependent
OF Tyrone Taylor (hip flexor strain) went 2-for-3 with a single and a solo home run in his first rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton
RHP Robert Stock (thoracic outlet surgery) allowed three earned runs on four hits with no walks and one strikeout over 1.2 innings in his first rehab assignment for High-A Brooklyn on Friday night
Francisco Lindor & Tyrone Taylor speak! 🎙️
Yesterday in Binghamton, both Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor spoke to the media about their first game on their rehab assignments.
Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Andrew Claudio recaps the Cincinnati series, assesses the holding pattern the team are currently in, and then looks ahead to the Phillies series.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Ji Hwan Bae (Triple-A): 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBIs, 1 BB, 1 HR
RHP Brendan Girton (No. 28 prospect, Double-A): 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
SS Mitch Voit (No. 6 prospect, High-A): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
C Ronald Hernandez (High-A): 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB
SS Branny De Oleo (Single-A): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (34-41) at Phillies (40-35)
Where: Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Starters: RHP Freddy Peralta (5-5, 3.90 ERA) vs. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (8-3, 1.82 ERA)
When: 7:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: FOX
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the greatness of Juan Soto ✍️
With the Mets off on Friday - thanks, World Cup - I wanted to take full advantage of there being no game by being a little positive in today’s editorial.
Given how disappointing and frustrating this season has been so far, it is sometimes easy to view everything through a negative prism. However, by doing that, we risk the chance of not appreciating something special.
I’m obviously talking about Juan Soto here.
It struck me while watching the superstar hitter slug a pair of home runs in Thursday’s win over the Phillies that we probably haven’t talked nearly enough about just how great Soto is on a nearly daily basis.
And we probably don’t sit back enough and reflect on how lucky we are as fans to get to witness one of the best hitters in the game ever do what he does in a Mets uniform.
Of course, as I’ve already touched on, that isn’t always easy to do when the team absolutely sucks. It is hard to really appreciate Soto’s overall prowess when the Mets are stacking up losses and sitting ugly in last place in the NL East.
Furthermore, given how bad the team has been this year, and dating back to the second half of last season, it is sometimes tempting to expect more from Soto. I think there is sometimes an expectation for fans to want Soto to really carry this team on his back, despite the fact that he probably can’t play any better than he’s playing right now.
That’s the reality when you sign the biggest contract in American sports - the expectations will always be sky high. With great power, comes great responsibility.
With that said, baseball is the very definition of a team game and one true star, no matter how elite he is, doesn’t always translate to collective success. I mean, the Angels had two of the best players on the planet in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the same team and still sucked.
So, for the purpose of this exercise, let’s put the losing and the under .500 record aside for a minute, and just revel in Soto’s majestic brilliance. Over 58 games this season, Soto is hitting .300/.398/.582/.980 with 17 homers, 38 RBIs, and 35 walks. He currently leads all qualified National League hitters with a .980 OPS. Shohei Ohtani is second with a .963 OPS. Last season, for a team that missed the postseason, Soto finished with 43 home runs, 127 walks, 38 stolen bases, 120 runs scored, and 105 RBIs, despite getting off to a now infamous slow start.
If you want some indication of just how important Soto is to this team, then consider this: the Mets’ record when Soto starts this season is 31-27, as opposed to 3-14 when he doesn’t. Furthermore, the team averages 4.55 runs per game when he’s in the lineup versus 2.47 runs per game when he isn’t.
In addition to the stats, the eye test also tells its own special story when it comes to Soto. Watching one of the best hitters who has ever lived do his thing at the plate really is a special experience we should never take for granted. Soto is an absolute savant in the hitter’s box, and his approach alone is a lot of fun to watch. His plate discipline and ability to draw walks for fun is admirable, while he just does everything with such a cool swagger.
Plus, like any special player, Soto has that ability to just take over games with laughable ease. Look at what he did the other night against the Phillies. He had two home runs in the first three innings, before going on to make a nice catch in the field.
In short, Soto can impact any given game in a multitude of ways. He can do things with the bat that most other players can only dream of, he can change games with his power alone and, while we haven’t seen it as much this season, Soto can also be a dangerous threat on the basepaths as he proved last year.
Granted, Soto isn’t a perfect player. He isn’t exactly a Gold Glove defender in the outfield, and he has been known to show a frustrating lack of hustle here and there. There is never any excuse for a lack of hustle. On the flip side, I’m not sure there’s a superstar athlete out there who doesn’t have some flaws to his or her game.
In any case, Soto is the kind of generational player that doesn’t come around all that often. Superstar players like Juan Soto don’t exactly grow on trees. I mean, he’s probably already skating into the Hall of Fame on roller skates.
As such, and as hard as it is sometimes because of how bad the Mets have been, I do think we need to carve out some time here and there to just appreciate the true greatness of Soto, and how lucky we are to have him as a Met.
Lastly, just remember when considering these stats, Soto missed three weeks with a calf injury at the beginning of the season:
NL RANKS
2.5 fWAR (12th)
17 HR (7th)
14% BB rate (10th)
.398 OBP (5th)
.582 SLG (1st)
.980 (1st)
169 wRC+ (1st)
Around the League 🚩
Royals star SS Bobby Witt Jr. was held out of Friday’s game against the Cardinals with a Grade 1 MCL sprain - he will be further evaluated before Sunday’s series finale
Yankees RHP Cam Schlittler struck out a career-high 13 batters over six scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the Reds - Schlittler’s 1.71 ERA is the lowest by a Yankees pitcher in his first 16 starts since Whitey Ford in 1964 (1.47)
C Carson Kelly hit a first-inning grand slam to help the Cubs steamroll the Blue Jays in a 16-2 dismantling
C Dalton Rushing recorded his first career walk-off hit to help the Dodgers to a 6-5 win over the Orioles
The A’s came back from an 11-4 deficit to beat the Angels, 12-11, thanks to C Jonah Heim’s pinch-hit, game-tying two-run home run
LHP Tarik Skubal struck out eight over 5.2 innings in his first home start since elbow surgery as the Tigers beat the White Sox, 4-3