Scouting note of newly acquired NY Mets player is funny, alarming, and accurate

The New York Mets just shook up their bullpen, and Joel Sherman passed along a perfect scouting note from an executive who knows Gregory Soto well. The reliever “is most likely to hit one, walk two, and strike out three in an inning”. That’s not just a quirky line; it’s a late-inning rollercoaster packed into one pitcher, perfectly capturing the Mets’ newest high-voltage weapon.

Soto isn’t a flawless reliever, but he’s a flamethrower with enough strikeout ability and flair to keep hitters guessing. He can turn a routine inning into something special and bring the kind of energy the Mets’ bullpen has been craving. If you think the Mets’ bullpen just got a serious boost, you’re right. Strap in, things are about to get interesting.

Gregory Soto’s electric arm gives Mets a strikeout-heavy weapon from the left side they’ve been missing.

On paper, Soto’s numbers might not set off fireworks. A 3.96 ERA and 1.29 WHIP are solid but hardly spectacular. His walk rate, at 11.3%, places him in the bottom 11% of MLB, a red flag that many will point out. But here’s where the story flips: Soto’s stuff against left-handed hitters is elite, and his ability to miss bats is nothing to sneeze at.

Soto ranks in the top 6% in MLB for barrel percentage allowed and sits comfortably in the top 20% for strikeout and whiff rates. When he’s on, he can erase hitters from the scoreboard with a nasty combination of sinker and slider that can frustrate even the best. His ability to miss bats isn’t just a footnote; it’s a weapon, especially against lefties, who have struggled mightily. Soto holds left-handed hitters to a .138 batting average and a .547 OPS, striking out 22 in just 58 at-bats, showing he can dominate the toughest matchups.

Before today’s Yankees game, Jazz Chisholm gave a scouting report that spoke volumes. Calling Soto one of the best pitchers he’s ever faced, Jazz pointed out he had zero hits against him in his career, clearly impressed by Soto’s nasty stuff. That kind of praise from a left-handed hitter only underscores the weapon the Mets have acquired. Soto’s numbers against righties aren’t ideal, but with both Soto and Brooks Raley in the mix, Carlos Mendoza now has two strong lefties to deploy more strategically in the late innings.

For a bullpen that has lacked left-handed swing-and-miss options, Soto brings exactly that, and in high volume. He’s not perfect, but the upside is loud, and the fit makes sense. With Raley and Soto, Mendoza now has two power lefties to deploy against the toughest parts of any lineup. And as Joel Sherman joked, the Mets have cornered the market on Sotos—one’s a lefty hitter terrorizing pitchers, the other’s a lefty pitcher terrorizing lefty batters—balance, at last.