With a contract worth $765 million over 15 years, Juan Soto should certainly be expected to run out of the box.
However, of late, that hasn’t been the case, with Soto’s lackadaisical nature causing outrage among Mets fans.
“I’ve been hustling pretty hard,” Soto said after the New York Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox. “If you see it today, you could tell.”
If that wasn’t enough, in another embarrassing moment, Soto did not run out of the batter’s box on a deep fly ball and was held to a long single.
“If someone gets a hold of one and knows when he gets it, it’s Juan,” Mendoza told reporters. “He thought he had it. But with the wind and all that, and in particular, in this ballpark, you’ve got to get out of the box. We’ll discuss that.”
Soto’s contract puts everything under a microscope. However, fans and Mets players alike have plenty of reason to expect more out of their superstar.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
“Didn’t run hard out of the box might have cost himself a base,” Gary Cohen said.
“He and [Pete] Alonso both have been guilty of thinking that the ball was going out to left field and not running hard to first base… Alonso got thrown out at second and Soto barely got to first.”
