Former MLB players address what Mets' Juan Soto is missing amid struggles

While the New York Mets did well to take two of three games from the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend, the fact that Mets outfielder Juan Soto went 2-for-14 with a double and three RBI during the series did little to silence chatter about whether or not he regrets leaving the New York Yankees as a free agent. 

During the latest edition of the "Baseball Tonight" podcast, former MLB players and current ESPN analysts Eduardo Perez and David Cone addressed how Soto looked versus the Dodgers. 

"He’s still swinging and missing on pitches in the zone on the fastball," Perez said, as shared by Jimmy Hascup of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "He’s still in between. We saw a couple check swings. That’s very unlike Juan Soto. And what that tells me is there’s a lot of things going on in that head as he is preparing to be able to get the load and get ready to hit. Is it that he’s starting a little bit late? It could be. Is it that his hands are a little bit too low? They could be. But all the things that I’m saying right now are most likely also in his head. And that’s not a really great place to be."

Across Soto's first 52 games of the season, he slashed .236/.363/.414 with a .777 OPS, eight home runs and 24 RBI. He routinely seemed to lack "enthusiasm" over the opening two months of his Mets tenure, and his "Soto shuffle" has largely gone missing during at-bats. In Sunday's 3-1 win over the Dodgers, he slammed his bat out of frustration following a strikeout. 

Soto recently insisted he is "happy" that he decided to sign a 15-year, $765M contract that could exceed $800M total to join the Mets in December. Nevertheless, takes suggesting that he either misses sharing a lineup with Yankees captain Aaron Judge or is simply failing to deal with the pressure that comes with inking such a massive deal will continue to hover over the 26-year-old until he reclaims the form that made him such a valuable commodity in free agency after the 2024 World Series.  

"It’s the heartbeat," Cone added. "It’s emotional. There’s no question about it. That’s what leads to the confidence in the batter’s box. That leads to the lack of the 'Soto shuffle.' That’s just feeling it, and that’s clearly emotional. That’s the human element that’s going on with him. And I don’t know how you work through that. That’s something he’s going to have to figure out himself. ...Bottom line is, Juan Soto’s got to feel it emotionally. And until he does, we’re not going to see the same old swagger that we’re used to seeing from him."

The good news for the Mets is that they began Monday at 32-21 even though they haven't had Soto at his best for much of the season. A majority of fans have continued to vocalize support for Soto during games at Citi Field, but those cheers will almost certainly turn to boos if he continues to disappoint at the plate through the start of the summer months.