Analyst assesses Juan Soto’s ‘polarizing’ first season with Mets

Bichette is batting .311 — 49 points higher than Soto’s average. He has also recorded 118 singles compared to Soto’s 80 and 44 doubles to Soto’s 18. Though Soto walks and homers more, Kenny stated that Bichette is “literally outhitting Soto by the literal definition.”

Soto never graded as a plus defender in his seven seasons before joining the Mets, but there is concern about his regression in right field this year. After gradually improving his fielding run value from -17 in 2022 to -4 in 2023 to 0 in 2024, he has fallen deep back into the negatives with a -11 rating in 2025.

“Normally, guys with bad reads, they lack range. With Soto, it’s more than that,” Kenny said. “There are bad reads, bad jumps, struck balls over his head, misread, doubles turned into triples.”

A closer look at the directional metrics provided within the segment showed that Soto ranks as the league’s worst outfielder in Outs Above Average (-8) when right-handed batters are up. He carries a -1 OAA against left-handed batters, suggesting he reacts slower on drop steps back and to his left when righties slice the ball the opposite way down the right-field line, often resulting in extra bases.

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Kenny closed by saying that despite the unfair expectations that come with Soto’s record-breaking contract, anyone who hits 40 home runs and leads the league in OBP is not “so-so,” like some critics have nicknamed him. But even with the excellence, he feels there is reason for the baseball world to react the way it has.

Soto and the Mets (77-73) enter Tuesday’s series opener against the San Diego Padres (82-68) with a 1.5-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final NL wild card spot. A division title is no longer within reach for New York, as the Philadelphia Phillies (90-61) clinched with a win Monday night.