DENVER -- Having tried just about every other tactic at his disposal, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pushed one of the last remaining options available to him on Monday, batting Juan Soto leadoff for just the third time in his career.
Mendoza’s reasoning revolved less around Soto’s first at-bat of a game and more around mid-game scenarios. Multiple times last weekend, the Angels brought in a lefty to face Soto in the sixth or seventh inning, forcing Mendoza to remove third hitter MJ Melendez for a pinch-hitter earlier than he’d like to. Having Soto bat leadoff makes that decision more difficult for opposing teams, who must now deal with the right-handed Bo Bichette behind him.
It also maximizes the number of times that Soto, who would rank fourth in the National League in on-base percentage if he had enough at-bats to qualify, will come to the plate.
The downside is that it limits RBI opportunities for Soto, given the reduced rate at which New York’s bottom-of-the-order hitters reach base.
“But I’m also trying to create traffic,” Mendoza said. “I tried with Juan in the two, three [hole] trying to create traffic in front of him, and we’re having a hard time doing that. So I just decided to go the other way -- get him as many at-bats as possible, try to get him on base and let the other guys drive him in.”
Until Monday, Soto had not hit leadoff since May 30, 2021, when then-Nationals manager Davey Martinez made the move in an effort to help lift Soto out of a slump. Soto also batted leadoff as a rookie on May 30, 2018.
“I’ve done it in the past,” Soto said. “I haven’t done it much, but I’m just going to try to do the same thing I’ve been doing in the second and third hole. I’m not worried about being first. I’m just going to try to get good at-bats and get the team going.”
The Mets’ offensive struggles have been particularly pronounced in recent weeks with Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. on the injured list. All three of those hitters routinely hit in the top half of the lineup before suffering injuries; with them absent, Mendoza has relied more on platoon bats such as Melendez, Austin Slater and Andy Ibáñez.
The Mets entered Monday’s play ranked 29th in the Majors in runs, 29th in on-base percentage and 30th in slugging.
Soto has been one of their only bright spots since returning from a two-and-a-half-week injured list stint. In 19 games, he is batting .314/.415/.500 with three homers and 12 walks. All of that production has come out of the two hole for Soto, who also has extensive experience batting third in his career.
“I don’t know how it’s going to work for the whole team,” he said of batting leadoff, "but I hope it does.”
Asked how long this experiment might last, Mendoza demurred, saying it will depend upon how well it works and what the team’s personnel will look like going forward. None of the Mets’ missing hitters are due back imminently, which means in the short term, Soto could lead off on a regular basis.
“It makes my decision a lot easier when you get the buy-in from the player,” Mendoza said. “When I brought it up to him [Sunday], it was an easy yes. He was like, ‘I’ll do whatever the team needs.’”