What stats show about Mets' Juan Soto being 'too passive at the plate'

The ongoing struggles of outfielder Juan Soto continue to overshadow the first-place New York Mets.

MLB.com's Anthony DiComo recently mentioned that some Mets personnel have felt that "Soto had become too passive at the plate, allowing himself to fall into too many pitchers' counts." For an article published on Tuesday, Mike Petriello of MLB.com expanded on DiComo's revelation. 

"Soto in May offered at only 53% of pitches in the zone, tied for the third-lowest rate of any month of his career — and among the three other months at the bottom of the list, two of them (September 2024 and August 2018) were his weakest month of that season. When he doesn't swing enough, he can't do damage enough," Petriello explained. "...In May, Soto took 0-0 pitches in the zone 74% of the time — the second highest in a month of his career." 

Soto showed signs of breaking out of his slump when he went 4-for-9 with two home runs, a double and three RBI during a three-game sweep of the pitiful Colorado Rockies. He then went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk in Monday's 4-3 extra innings win at the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Standard stats show that Soto slashed .234/.364/.430 with a .794 OPS, 10 homers and 28 RBI over his first 59 games after he signed a 15-year, $765M contract to join the Mets this past offseason. That said, Petriello noted that nothing among Soto’s underlying numbers indicates the 26-year-old is somehow in decline while in his prime. 

Specifically, Baseball Savant shows that Soto ended Monday's action ranked fourth in all of MLB with a .430 expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA). To compare, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees had a league-best .476 xwOBA. 

Fans who booed Soto during home games don't care what advanced stats have to say about his plate appearances this spring. They simply want to see the version of Soto who hit 41 homers and drove in 109 runs during the 2024 regular season for the Yankees.

For now, both outsiders and the Mets will continue waiting for Soto to get hot for the first time since he inked his massive deal. Perhaps upcoming outings at the Dodgers and the Rockies will be just what Soto needs.