Did you scold him for a walk? Soto is a human being, and he's 26 now. The Mets manager was busy defending himself

May 21, 2025

Did you scold him for a walk? Soto is a human being, and he's 26 now. The Mets manager was busy defending himself
New York Mets Juan Soto is making a bat flip after striking out in the top of the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on the 21st (Korea time). AP Yonhap News



Did you scold him for a walk? Soto is a human being, and he's 26 now. The Mets manager was busy defending himself
Juan Soto looks at the Boston Red Sox on the 20th (Korea time) as he slowly puts down the bat after hitting a big ball to the left in the sixth inning. Soto, who did not sprint, stopped at first base and hit only a single because the ball fell after the Green Monster was stopped. Photo = MLB.TV Capture
While New York Mets Juan Soto, the most expensive player in the Major League, has recently been criticized for a series of 'not hustling's, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has rather defended him and is raising another point.

Coach Mendoza interviewed local media ahead of the Boston Red Sox match at Fenway Park in Boston on the 21st (Korea time) and expressed his position on Soto's recent lackluster base. Mendoza said he would meet with Soto on the issue the day before, but there were predictions in the region that he would scold Soto.

However, MLB.com said one day after announcing that he would meet with Juan Soto and talk about the level of his efforts, Mendoza was reluctant to reveal details of the interview as well as the actual interview took place, adding that Mendoza described Soto's $765 million appearance this season as part of his efforts to adapt to the new team.




In other words, Mendoza was interviewed on behalf of Soto's position.

Did you scold him for a walk? Soto is a human being, and he's 26 now. The Mets manager was busy defending himself
Carlos Mendoza, director of the New York Mets. AFP Yonhap News
Mendoza said, `Soto is also a person and he is only 26 years old. It will get better. He opens the words Juan Soto" and says of Soto's recent lush baserunning "He says it's OK, but everything is new to him. New team, new contract, huge expectations, etc. He has played for a team with a winning record and won the World Series. But this is a new place for him. What we're going to do is help him get on with his work."

Director Mendoza then said "It's all based on the result theory" and "If you make a contract of that scale, your eyes will inevitably be drawn more." Soto knows that and tries to accept it all. He was always a superstar. Superstars are always interested in every move. He has no problem. Again, I think he's a great player, even if we don't have the results we want here yet," he stressed.




It is only a defense of Soto, who has become a new member of the Mets, but did not say whether he pointed out that he was wrong as a director about "walking base" or whether Soto recognized and reflected on his problems.

Soto did not interview local media separately that day. According to MLB.com , the TV set up in the stadium recently showed Soto's batting and base learning.

Soto hit a big hit to the left in the top of the sixth inning, trailing 1-3 against Boston the previous day, stood for a while looking at the ball and slowly put down the bat and ran to first base. However, the ball fell after the suspension of the Fenway Park Green Monster. It was because of the influence of the wind that it didn't fly as far as I thought. Soto turned first base and headed to second base only then, but Boston left fielder Jarran Duran quickly threw and couldn't run further.




The Mets lost 1-3 after Soto succeeded in stealing second base and subsequent Pete Alonso got a walk and got a chance at first and second base, but failed to score a chase point.

Did you scold him for a walk? Soto is a human being, and he's 26 now. The Mets manager was busy defending himself
New York Mets Juan Soto hits a hit in the top of the fifth inning. AP Yonhap News
After the game the previous day, Soto said, "It was a very strong hit to the base in the sixth inning." Green Monster has a really short distance. I was going to go to second base, but it wasn't easy. "I think I played pretty hard. If you saw my play today, everyone would say that." He blamed Green Monster for a short distance, not his own base learning that did not do his best.

Soto was also criticized by fans for his 'walking base' against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium the previous day (19th). In the top of the eighth inning, he was out with a slow run after hitting a training pitch toward the second base. It wasn't a safe situation to sprint, but Mets owner Steve Cohen, who saw this, criticized that `Soto doesn't always play hard.'





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.