The New York Mets won again on Tuesday night, their second in a row against the Philadelphia Phillies and their sixth in a row overall to improve to 17-7 on the young season. They have a four-game lead over the Phils in the National League East and are tied with the San Diego Padres for the best record in baseball.
Not only are the Mets off to a great start compared to the rest of the league, but this is one of the greatest starts to a season in the 60+ year history of the franchise.
The #Mets have won 17 of their first 24 games. If they win again on Wednesday afternoon, they will have tied for their second-most wins through their 25 games in franchise history, joining 1972 and 1988.
— Jessica Brand (@JessicaDBrand) April 23, 2025
Their only better start? 1986, at 20-5. pic.twitter.com/wfoMQq13gM
Obviously, a lot has gone right for New York to have come out of the gates so strong. Pete Alonso looks eager to prove his doubters wrong, as evidenced by his MVP-caliber start to the year. The pitching as a whole has been unbelievably good. Francisco Lindor, after a slow start, has completely shed his previous early-season demons by crushing the ball, particularly at Citi Field.
Perhaps what's most impressive about this hot start, though, is that the Mets have not gotten close to what they expected out of their $765 million man, Juan Soto.
Due to his slow start, there has been a lot of mindless panic going around. The Mets getting off to the start they have as a team shows that there's no reason to worry about Soto.
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There's no reason for anyone to be worried about Juan Soto
Has Soto's start been disappointing? Undoubtedly. He's slashing .233/.362/.395 and has just three home runs and 12 RBI on the year. He has not hit a single home run at Citi Field as a Met, and has gone just 4-for-20 (.200 average) with runners in scoring position. He has not been close to the run producer as he's expected to be. Given that, I can somewhat understand the panic.
With that being said, does it really matter that Soto hasn't been Soto yet if the team is 17-7? I mean, would things be any better if Soto got off to a red-hot start but the Mets were 7-17? All that really matters at the end of the day is winning, and the Mets have done plenty of that even with this subpar version of Soto.
Plus, even if he hasn't met expectations, it's not as if he's done nothing. He might not be getting on base at a Soto level, but a .362 on-base percentage is absolutely nothing to scoff at, especially when he's hitting just .233 overall. He's gotten on base plenty in front of the raging-hot Alonso, and he is tied with Lindor for the team lead in runs scored as a result. He isn't doing his job as a run producer yet, but that doesn't mean he's done nothing.
Soto's slow start should only be concerning for those who, for whatever reason, think a turnaround isn't coming. Sure, his start on paper has been slow, but Soto still ranks in the 90th percentile in average exit velocity and the 95th percentile in walk rate according to Baseball Savant, while also ranking in the 81st percentile in batting run value. He isn't performing like peak Soto, but he's still showing off an elite eye at the dish and has hit the ball incredibly hard, even if it hasn't been in the air nearly enough. He does also have an above-average 115 WRC+ as well.
There are more than enough reasons to believe Soto will soon perform like the Soto the Mets gave all of that money to. When that happens, this team that went to the NLCS last season without him and has been outstanding with this lesser version of him can reach another level.