A couple of weeks earlier than his Mets debut, Juan Soto shared a private purpose.
“I want a Gold Glove more than an MVP, to tell you the truth,” Soto stated in Spanish final month on “Abriendo El Podcast,” explaining that profitable an award for his protection would “close many doubts.”
His supervisor is taking discover.
“He’s not just saying it,” Carlos Mendoza stated of Soto’s purpose earlier than Saturday’s house sport in opposition to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s the way he’s working, the way he’s going about his business, the details, looking for information, and behind the scenes with Antoan Richardson, our outfield coach, watching film and things like that.”
Soto, 26, is amongst baseball’s most completed and prolific hitters, however his protection in proper subject has been the topic of scrutiny throughout his eight-year MLB profession.
He was a Gold Glove finalist with the Yankees final season, although superior metrics equivalent to fielding run worth (which captures a participant’s general defensive efficiency) and outs above common (which charges a participant’s vary) recommend he was under common defensively.
Soto has proven enhancements in each statistics this season, albeit in a small pattern dimension.
Getting into Saturday, Soto’s fielding run worth of zero ranked barely under common, whereas his zero outs above common (OAA) put him within the 68th percentile, in line with MLB Statcast.
Soto has improved in each classes in every of the previous 4 years.
In Friday’s house opener, Soto made a pleasant operating catch in entrance of the wall after monitoring an extended fly ball off the bat of Anthony Santander.
“He’s got a good arm,” Mendoza stated. “He gets good jumps. He’s saying [winning a Gold Glove is] one of his goals, and when you look at him and when you watch him preparing day in and day out toward that goal, it’s pretty impressive.”
Soto, who signed a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets within the offseason, has additionally by no means received an MVP award, however he’s completed inside the high 10 of voting 5 instances.
MCNEIL LATEST
Jeff McNeil (proper indirect pressure) had been scheduled to take batting observe on the sector Saturday, however wet climate canceled these plans.
McNeil has been hitting indoors off of a pitching machine, however hitting on the sector is the subsequent step in his development, Mendoza stated.
“It’s different when you’re hitting off the [velocity] machine and you don’t see how far the ball goes,” Mendoza stated. “Yeah, the TV can tell you it’s 370 [feet], but when there’s a level of intensity [you get] only by being outside. You get a better feel for it.”
The Mets wish to see McNeil take batting observe on the sector for a number of days, and to probably watch him hit open air in opposition to the speed machine, earlier than they schedule a rehab task.
McNeil, the 2022 Nationwide League batting champion who hit .238 final yr, started the season on the injured checklist. The Mets have used Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña at second base in his absence.
“So far, [McNeil is] feeling good, and we’ll see how it goes,” Mendoza stated.
