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Brian Joura's avatar

He's walking slightly more and striking out fewer times - both good signs. On the other end, his ISO is down and his BABIP is pretty bad. He's really struggling against fastballs and his barrel% is way down.

Is that all a bat speed issue? I dunno - maybe. Guess I'm just not concerned about an elite hitter losing bat speed at age 26

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Chris Flanders's avatar

Im with you Brian. I think the idea Juan Soto has an issue of some sort is a completely manufactured nothing-burger conjured up by a single reporter asking a dumb question - taking advantage of a kid 26 yo - and now we see the face of this: the NY sports media, and that garbage dump the Post, are in the bag for the Yankees so badly that they cant wait to say what a loser Soto is and what a dope he is for leaving the Yankees. Boo hoo. Time to get over it. Soto is a Met now, and will be through the apex of his prime. He is and will remain the HoF player we know he is. And lo-and-behold, it’s turning out the Mets have a decent team this year. Mets fans booing him already and buying into this (not that this article does that) is a pretty poor showing. Like Dalton said, let’s not forget Lindor’s rude welcoming in year 1.

This game is constantly about adjustments. I see him topping the ball a bit so hes hitting more grounders and low line drives. That’s can explain the BABIP and barrels. As he adjusts to the Lindor/Soto/Alonso sandwich and how the other teams approach that trio it’s reasonable to expect some internal experimentation on how to make it work. It will.

Lindor —> Soto —> Alonso = Amazin’

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Steven Shrager's avatar

Love that both Soto and Alonso have more walks than strikeouts. Soto has looked better since his standing ovation ahead of knocking in a big run. We’d all have preferred a monster start but at least his at bats have been strong. So now with Lindor and Soto heating up, if Alonso continues to hit well, he’ll have a ton of RBI this year. I guess we need to have more patience with him. While he signed the new contract that included a huge signing bonus, he did make $31 million with the Yankees last season, so it’s not like he already could have afforded whatever his heart designed.

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