If baseball fans outside of Flushing, New York thought that they wouldn't have to worry about the Mets continuing their improbable momentum from last season, it's looking like they were sorely mistaken.
The Mets have the best record in baseball at 18-7, and the biggest division lead too, as they now lead the Phillies by five games in the NL East after sweeping them on Wednesday. That extra-inning triumph ran their winning streak up to seven games (their second streak already this season of at least six straight wins) and gave them a near-perfect 12-1 record in the friendly confines of Citi Field. They'll now get to enjoy a well-earned off day before traveling to Washington to take on the Nationals in a four-game set.
On the surface, it would seem that all is well for the Mets, but the Amazin thing is that they've been doing all this without contributions from some major pieces. Sean Manaea is still healing up from a right oblique strain he suffered this spring. New starter Frankie Montas has yet to pitch an inning in a Mets uniform due to a lat strain. Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez are finally set to join the team on Friday after minor league rehab stints, but neither one has played in the big leagues yet this year.
With all of those injuries, it's a good thing that the Mets are sponsored by New York-Presbyterian Hospital, but all of those players on the shelf haven't slowed them down, because other players have stepped up. Luisangel Acuña just snapped a nine-game hit streak while filling in for McNeil at second base. Luis Torrens has thrown out nearly half the attempted base-stealers he's faced in place of Alvarez.
Then there's the starting pitching, which against all odds has been the best in the majors. The best part is that it's been a true group effort. Kodai Senga has a .79 ERA and has looked unhittable. Clay Holmes leads the team with 34 strikeouts. Griffing Canning and Tylor Megill are tied with Senga for the team lead with three wins each. David Peterson has the worst ERA in the rotation, and it's only at 3.29 after he battled Phillies ace Zach Wheeler to a virtual draw by allowing two runs in 5.1 innings on Wednesday.
The Mets have been the best team in baseball, but one star hasn't made his mark yet
Unlikely heroes have stepped up, while the biggest names have done their part, as well. Pete Alonso is the early National League MVP thanks to his incredible hot streak at the plate. Francisco Lindor, a notoriously slow starter, has been crushing the ball lately.
If there's one name conspicuously absent from all this praise, it's the man that the Mets signed this offseason for 15 years and $765 million dollars, a figure that makes me feel poor to even type out. Yes, I'm talking about Juan Soto, the prized free agent that traded Yankee pinstripes for Mets blue and orange. That's the equivalent of every rom-com where the girl chooses the poor but pure-hearted guy with a heart of gold over the richer, more successful choice.
Soto hasn't exactly been bad in his first month in Queens, but he hasn't lit the world on fire like many people expected him to after he signed for more than the yearly GDP of Sao Tome & Principe. His batting average is 50 points below his career number, and his slugging percentage is way down, as well.
Soto's slow start has been masked by how good the team around him has been, but there are some in the national media that are beginning to question when he'll finally get going. Should Steve Cohen be worried that he bought the most expensive lemon in history? I say no, and I think most Mets fans agree. Here's why.
April has historically been Juan Soto's worst month
Just as level-headed Mets fans talk the crazies down from the ledge every April when Francisco Lindor gets off to a frigid start, the same needs to be done for those freaking out about Soto's numbers in the first 25 games. A quick look at his career stats shows that like Lindor, he usually waits until May to really get going.
To be fully transparent, Soto's numbers this year are down from his career April numbers, though not substantially so. He's currently batting .233, down from .251. His OPS, typically at .842 throughout his previous April games, is at .757 this year. He only has three home runs so far, putting him on roughly a 20-homer pace, and he's grounded into five double plays, already half his total from last year.
Even in a down month for Soto, he's still better than the majority of the league. Baseball Savant has him in the 73rd percentile for batting run value, while his average exit velocity is in the 88th percentile. He still has elite plate discipline. If a few more hard-hit balls didn't go right to a fielder (or an inch wide of the foul pole, as one did on Monday to take away what was called a three-run homer on the field before being reversed by a replay review), his numbers would be looking a lot better. In a 162-game season, these things will average out.
Even if Soto isn't himself at the plate yet, he's still contributing in other ways
Soto's presence on the team is a huge positive for the Mets, even if he never gets another hit. He's still walking at a high rate, and having him batting in front of Pete Alonso has turned the Polar Bear into one of the most dangerous men in baseball.
Alonso is seeing more good pitches to hit because he's rarely coming up with the bases empty, and he's capitalizing with a .341 average, a ridiculous 1.122 OPS and a league-leading 26 RBIs. Just as Soto's spot in front of Aaron Judge helped the Yankee slugger put together a historic season, he's doing the same for Alonso this year.
Soto has been maligned for his frankly average work with his glove, but he has a good arm, and he put it to use on Wednesday when he gunned Nick Castellanos down at home to preserve a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning.
He also had a productive out in the 10th with the Mets down one, grounding one to the right side of the infield to get the tying run to third base with one out.
This may not make sense to people that haven't spent their lives in the trenches with the Mets, but there's no other team in professional sports that relies more heavily on vibes than the Mets. When things are bad, they seem to get worse in a hurry. When things are good, as they increasingly were last summer, it seems like the party will never end.
The Mets have been absolutely rolling this year, and although Soto hasn't been contributing to his normal standard stats-wise, he hasn't let that affect the vibes. He was the first one to Starling Marte to try and rip the veteran right fielder's jersey off after he came through with a walk-off single on Wednesday. He's fit in instantly with his new teammates, contributing in a huge way to what seems to be one of the best clubhouses and cultures in the league. That kind of stuff doesn't show up in the box score, but it matters, for the Mets more than anyone.
Even the most pessimistic Mets fan isn't worried about Juan Soto right now. Instead of asking what's wrong with him, they're asking a much more exciting question. What will this team look like once he actually gets going?