Juan Soto's recent Mets hot streak hits snag with 0-for-5 night
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Juan Soto ended the Mets' 6-5 loss to the Cubs on Saturday night with a grounder to second, completing an 0-for-5 night for the slugger.
He's gotten away from hitting the ball on the ground as much as he did earlier in the season, and the change helped spark a recent hot streak that wasn't on display versus Chicago. Hitting coach Eric Chávez knows it's those ground balls that can make Soto look mortal.
'Everyone's got a bugaboo and his has always been hitting the ball on the ground,'' Chávez said of Soto before the game. 'That's been his miss. It's a give and take with what he does well. He has a flat swing and sometimes that happens when the ball is going down and he hits the top of the ball. He's done it his whole career. Even playing against him, we knew that about ground balls.'
The solution: Nothing.
'You don't change anything,'' Chávez said. 'To be honest with you, he's just more comfortable. There was nothing wrong with his swing. You can tell by his body language, not as a coach, but as a person, you can see he's more comfortable.'
And there's no way to rush that process.
'Everyone has to go through that themselves,'' Chávez said. 'People say, 'He signed an $800 million contract, he should get a hit every at-bat. That's not reality. He made a big decision to come here [from the Yankees]. I know it's only 20 minutes away [from The Bronx], but it's night and day. It's completely different. Of course, it took time to adjust.'
Juan Soto, who went 0-for-5, walks to the dugout after striking out in the seventh inning of the Mets' 6-5 loss to the Cubs on May 10, 2025.
Corey Sipkin / New York Post
After seeing teams swipe bases against them at an alarming rate early last season, the Mets brought in Luis Torrens and his defensive prowess helped turn that part of their game.
Still, the Mets allowed the fifth-most steals in the majors.
So far this season, with Francisco Alvarez having improved that part of his game, the Mets have thrown out 14 potential base stealers — tied for the most in the majors — and have given up just 14, the second fewest in the league.
Alvarez made a throwing error in the first inning on Saturday, but also picked off Michael Busch at first base in the third.
In the bottom of the third, Alvarez was drilled in the left hand by a 95 mph four-seamer by Cade Horton, who was making his MLB debut.
Alvarez was checked out by trainers at first base and remained in the game.
A day after the organization's No. 2 pitching prospect, Nolan McLean, threw seven scoreless innings in his debut at Triple-A Syracuse, the Mets third-ranked pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Jonah Tong, pitched 6 ²/₃ perfect innings for Double-A Binghamton on Saturday, part of a seven-inning perfect game in the second game of a doubleheader.
Ronny Mauricio takes some batting practice during the beginning of Mets' spring training this season.
Corey Sipkin / New York Post
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The 21-year-old Tong, also a right-hander, whiffed 13 before being replaced with one out to go in the game after 99 pitches by TJ Shook, who got the final out.
Also with Binghamton Saturday, Ronny Mauricio took another step forward in his comeback from a torn ACL suffered two offseasons ago, as the infielder played his first game at Double-A in his rehab assignment.
Mauricio played third base and hit an RBI double in the first game of a doubleheader against Reading.
Jose Siri, out with a fractured left tibia, is progressing better than anticipated, according to Mendoza. 'I didn't think he'd be doing some running and hitting in the cages, tee and toss, playing catch [and] doing some light sprints.'
There's still no timetable for the outfielder's return.
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Canning's best pitch is his slider, but he didn't throw it as much in his final season with the Angels. Its usage has gone from 24.1 percent in 2024 to 32.9 percent this year. With that has come a dip in his four-seam fastball usage, which has gone from a primary option to a more strategic one. 'It was difficult. We had four or five different managers and four or five different pitching coaches with the Angels,' Canning said. 'Sometimes a new guy comes in and maybe doesn't necessarily know you as well. Or just different organizational philosophies when people come in and out.' Advertisement The results speak for themselves. His fastball is resulting in whiffs on 19.5 percent of swings, compared to 14.8 percent last year. The hard-hit percentage has decreased to 44.4 percent, compared to 51.4 percent in 2024. The batting average against and slugging percentage against have steeply declined. All while his slider effectiveness has increased across all the same metrics. Canning said there's nothing different about his slider. Just a few mechanical tweaks to his delivery, and, more importantly, he's changed what pitches he throws in what counts. 'It starts with him buying into what we offered him, and also giving credit to our pitching department that is able to not only provide the information, but get to know the player,' said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. 'We knew he had a good slider. … Last year, he threw his four-seamer a lot. I think it's more increasing this pitch, not so much of that one.' Canning also said the Mets utilize technology differently. For example, he said he utilizes a KinaTrax machine, which allows him to see his skeletal movements and subsequently improve them. Canning said the reliance on technology with the Mets is more than he was used to with the Angels. 'We had it, but I never saw it,' Canning said of the KinaTrax. 'I think the Angels have all the similar things. I don't think it's a bad thing — sometimes they don't want guys to go down that rabbit hole, and worry about those kinds of things.' On Wednesday night, Canning had his best start of the season. Six shutout innings, seven strikeouts, no walks, just three hits. On the season, his home runs per nine innings dropped to 0.9 from 1.6. Hard contact against him has been fewer and farther between. 'Much different,' said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. 'Obviously, he's healthy. The stuff is playing up. The velocity is up. There's a cutter, the slider is good, there's a changeup. He's a much better pitcher, more weapons than he's had in the past.' Advertisement The Angels have long struggled to develop starting pitching, particularly pitchers that they drafted. Their recent history is littered with examples of arms who haven't evolved in the way they hoped. Canning is arguably the most concrete example of this. He was drafted in the second round in 2017. By 2019, he was the organization's top pitching prospect, behind only Jo Adell on the overall leaderboard. There was hope he'd be a legit ace-level pitcher. Instead, it was a half-dozen years of injuries and ineffectiveness. Culminating in his worst season, and a career inflection point. Now, Canning is that ace-level starter on the best team in the National League. He's a pending free agent, and if he continues to pitch well, he will command a haul on the open market. New York is a different animal from Anaheim. It's a younger and more lively crowd, Canning said, with a great knowledge of the game. But it also invites a ton of pressure — a demand for success that isn't matched anywhere else. The good news for Canning is that he's satisfied and exceeded every expectation. To save his career and be a critical piece of what the Mets hope is a historic season. 'They thought they could bring me in and see some success,' Canning said. 'I think it's a testament to the culture. A big aspect of it is being on more of a winning team. Not playing for yourself as much, but playing for the 25 other guys, has been helpful for me in particular.' The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya contributed reporting to this story. (Top Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)
