NY Mets broadcaster’s Juan Soto question raises a new one all of these months later

Few people on this earth can give you as in-depth and reliable critique of a person’s defensive skills than Keith Hernandez. Having done it himself at a Hall of Fame level, everyone should trust what he has to say when it comes to fielding. Moreover, Hernandez knows the ballpark the New York Mets play in as well as anyone there is.

Back in June when the Mets were playing the New York Yankees at Citi Field, Hernandez commented on Juan Soto's defense. In comparison to Yankee Stadium with its infamous short porch and a much deeper zone to patrol over in Queens, he wondered why, after Soto misplayed a ball, the Yankees had him out there instead of left field.

Soto is fully expected to be the starting right fielder for the Mets—or is he? There are plenty of Yankees fans who fully expected he’d be back with them again. In a career that has had him flip-flopping between both corner outfield spots, one should wonder if something needs to be done about this.

Do the Mets have to worry about Juan Soto in right field?

Yankees fans, bitter to see Soto change teams, were quick to call him a future DH last week. They couldn’t wait to share every clip of him misplaying balls. Despite leading the league with 289 putouts in right field and showing off his arm with a league-best 9 assists plus a .993 fielding percentage (so what, but let’s include it to make a point), Soto isn’t as abysmal of a player as some will want you to believe.

Worth -5 Outs Above Average, the clip of his misplay against the Mets last year represented the type of mismanagement Soto is most likely to make. The accrued -5 came from a -3 on balls he had to go back on. 

Oddly, he was far worse the year prior with the San Diego Padres thus helping to explain a part of the reason why the Yankees saw him more as a right fielder. Worth -8 Outs Above Average in 2023, the bigger problem was balls to his right where the other -2 came from in 2024 as a Yankees right fielder.

For some perspective on what Soto will deal with in right field up to 81 times in the regular season next year, here are the dimensions:

Left field line - 335 feet (102 m)
Left center - 358 feet (109 m)
Deep left center - 385 feet (117 m)
Center field - 408 feet (124 m)
Deep right center - 398 feet (121 m)
Right center - 375 feet (114 m)
Right field line - 330 feet (101 m)

Balls hit over his right shoulder will be the ones to hold your breath over. An additional 12 feet to right center and deep right center vs. what it looks like in left field should have the Mets positioning Soto with some care. An extra two steps back at times or even away from the line could be the best way to defend against this.

There’s not much the Mets can do other than employ gifted center fielders defensively. Brandon Nimmo hasn’t played right field since 2020. His arm could easily be taken advantage of if they were to make a sudden swap.

Hernandez must have some sort of an opinion on this. A guess: offer Soto the best advice you can and then hope he adds more runs than he allows.