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Juan Soto stepped in one in Wednesday’s finale against the Minnesota Twins. A game that could even have his biggest defenders thinking twice about crawling up the hill they plan to die on, the word “disappointing” isn’t too outrageous to describe his first 18 games with the New York Mets. Scrutiny of his performance has picked up mostly due to this week’s “nontroversy” regarding Soto’s answer to a question about what’s different about hitting with the Mets versus the New York Yankees. It feels like entrapment.
The D-word has been linked most of all to Brett Baty. Given an opportunity to win a starting base job in the absence of Jeff McNeil, the fading infielder has gone 7 for 40 with 16 strikeouts and only one run scored and another batted in. Baty has been beyond frustrating, but these three others—Soto not included—have been even more of a letdown.
Remember, disappointment means you had much higher hopes. So for a player like Starling Marte whom the team didn’t even seem to want around, he wouldn’t really qualify. Right now he’s just meeting what many believed he’d do.
1) Jesse Winker
An illness kept Jesse Winker out of action for a few games. The excuse is over with. He needs to start producing. The odd owner of 2 triples collected in the same game plus 3 more doubles, Winker has yet to park one. We could accept the lack of home runs if he wasn’t also slashing just .200/.256/.400.
Used exclusively out of the DH spot, Winker needs to prove he was the right free agent to sign in the offseason for the bulk of at-bats in this role. Winker had a great August for the Mets in 2024 but then tanked in September. An exciting and clutch October re-added the fuel to want him back. Through 18 Mets games with Winker appearing in 12, he has been much less of the stud on-base guy and more like the one who played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners without doing much on offense.
The panic button hasn’t been hit on Winker just yet but as a regular batting fourth or fifth for the Mets, they’re going to need him to quickly start hitting. Otherwise, what does he bring?