Mets, Juan Soto knew this was coming all along

If there were lingering doubts about Juan Soto by the time June arrived, any concern the Mets’ $765 million cornerstone — the generational outfielder they just committed to building around for the next 15 seasons — would fall short of those lofty expectations in his debut campaign, it took only 23 games for those to evaporate and even seem foolish. 

Because in the month of June, Soto went from one of the worst stretches of his career to the best hitter in baseball. He collected the highest OPS in the majors this month (1.238) entering the Mets’ series finale against the Braves on Thursday at Citi Field. He was in a four-way tie for the most homers (10). The advanced metrics — from barrel and hard-hit percentage to weighted runs created plus and wins above replacement — illustrate tangible signs of a revival, too. 

“It’s a show,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who enjoys watching “everything” during a Soto at-bat. 

Soto insisted that nothing changed, that he has felt the same way all along, that June has “been great” — of course — and his swing is “going in the right direction” and, perhaps most telling of all, “it’s starting to happen.” This is the Soto the Mets signed up for. This is the version Mendoza knew for weeks would inevitably appear. This is the slugger who earned a place in past MVP conversations and, after a spring lull, is slowly inching toward that discourse again.