NY Mets need Juan Soto to take a few steps back, literally

When the New York Mets signed Juan Soto to a record-breaking, monster contract, they signed him for his bat. He's hit well this year, even if he has fallen a bit short of his extremely lofty standards, and his defense has not been good. However, while Soto's poor defense should have been at least partially expected, he is having a career-worst season. On the plus side, Soto and the Mets could make one small change that could help him field his position better.

Soto has seen all 1053 innings in the grass in right field. He already has -3 defensive runs saved with -10 outs above average. His career low in OAA was -12, which he set in 2022 in just under 1300 innings. He also has -10 fielding run value. While Soto was never a strong defender, he was at least playable with the Yankees last year, with zero DRS, -4 OAA, and -1 fielding runs.

As FanGraphs' Esteban Rivera notes, Soto has also slowed down (despite no major injuries), which is another factor in his diminished fielding. Soto was never a speed demon, but from 2021 through 2024, his sprint speed sat around 26.6 feet/second to 27 feet/second. This year, he has fallen to just 25.8 feet per second. That is in the 15th percentile of all position players this season. This hasn't helped in the feet covered in his jump on flyballs, which he ranks 77th out of 88 qualified fielders in.

But there is one thing Soto can change, and that is his fielding positioning. In 2024, Soto usually stood 287 feet deep in right field. He is still standing at about the same depth, at 290 feet, an additional three more feet. He has also maintained a 27-degree angle from home plate. Soto had issues last year with batted balls to his back. He had -3 directional outs above average when he had to field a ball behind him. Soto has gotten better at fielding balls directly behind him but is struggling with balls to his back right now, where he has -3 OAA.

Juan Soto is one small tweak away from improving his defense.

Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are two very different beasts. It is only 314 feet down the right field foul pole in Yankee Stadium, and 330 down the line in Citi Field. The deepest part of Yankee Stadium's right field is 385 feet, while the deepest part of Citi Field is 380. Citi Field has an indent from the right field to the right-center wall, while Yankee Stadium does not. It is just a straight wall from right field to right-center.

The best thing for Soto to do is to adjust for this. The average distance a right fielder stands from home plate is 295 feet deep. Five feet may not seem like a lot, but since Soto has problems with batted balls that go over him, this may help him out. Taking a few steps to his left couldn't hurt either, given that he has problems with balls hit to his back-right side.

Sure, this may not make Soto a Gold Glove right fielder. But Soto hasn't adjusted to a new ballpark well. He is still positioning himself in a relatively similar spot to when he was with the Yankees, who have a ballpark with very different dimensions than the Mets do. It may not be a big adjustment, but it could help him become at least a playable defender again, instead of one of the worst outfield gloves in baseball.