It took four home games for Juan Soto to hit a home run at Yankee Stadium while wearing pinstripes and Petco Park as a member of the Padres. He hit a home run in his first game at Nationals Park. He's had 10 home games at Citi Field and New York Mets fans are still waiting to watch him hit one into the stands.
Funnily enough, he's made a home run trot before logging his first home field home run with the Mets.
That's because on Monday night against the Phillies, his three-run home run was ruled out on replay review. Painfully, it went just wide over the foul pole.
Juan Soto *just* missed his first Citi Field home run as a Met pic.twitter.com/KL17ufnZgt
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 22, 2025
The first base umpire could have spared everyone the trouble by just calling it out initially. Soto clearly thought it was foul as he watched it soar into the second deck. Instead, the fans cheered, Soto trotted and then everyone was reminded of how the $800-million man isn't living up to his contract.
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Juan Soto's frustrating start with Mets summed up by home-run-turned-foul-ball
Soto joined the Mets with expectations at an all-time high. He's frustrated fans more often than he's thrilled them. He even heard boos from fans at the start of NY's series with the Cardinals. On Monday, he was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
Of course, there's a difference between living up to a nearly-billion dollar contract and playing poorly. The man came into Monday's game slashing .256/.385/.436 with an OPS+ of 137. He's not having a bad start. But he's batted into the second-most double-plays in the league so far. And he only has three home runs; none of them have come in front of the home fans. He's being put to shame by Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso, both of whom are at the top of their game.
Soto needed that home run, if only to quiet the noise. Having it called back almost makes it worse.