Right Field
Mets right fielders in 2024 turned in a sub-par .242/.319/.372 triple-slash with a .305 wOBA, and 98 wRC+. They also graded out as a poor group, defensively, with -1 Defensive run saved and -8 outs above average. Only four other teams had a lower OAA in right field than the Mets. Starling Marte saw the most playing time in right field, with five others seeing playing time at the position.
It’s pretty clear how the Mets addressed right field. They brought in Juan Soto on the largest contract in professional sports history worth $765 million over 15 years. That’s not even factoring in the signing bonus, which was worth $75 million. He is the only player ever with an OPS+ of 160 or greater and 700+ walks through their age-25 season. Mickey Mantle comes the closest with 174 OPS+, but nearly 100 fewer walks with 670 (Juan Soto has 769).
Soto had easily the best season of his career last year, batting .288/.419/.569 with a .421 wOBA and 180 wRC+. Soto hit a career-high 41 dingers with a .281 isolated slugging percentage. He showed off his trademark plate discipline, walking in 18.1% of his plate appearances while only striking out 16.7% of the time. This marks the fourth straight season, where he drew more walks than he struck out.
Believe it or not, but Soto could get even better. He had a .462 xwOBA, the third highest in the Statcast Era and the highest by someone not named Aaron Judge. He had the second highest difference between his wOBA and xwOBA in 2024 at 41 points.
Granted, Soto isn’t going to help the Mets’ right field defense a whole lot. He had zero defensive runs saved but -4 outs above average. His throws averaged 84.7 MPH from the outfield, which was about average. He was slightly below average in route running but covered a decent amount of ground in his jump. Still, Soto is here to mash baseballs, and as long as he can make the easy plays, he’ll stay in right field.