The New York Mets are going through a critical stretch in the 2025 season after starting with championship expectations, but the team has fallen into a six-game losing streak and has lost 10 of its last 11 games.
What initially seemed like a simple bump in the road is now threatening their playoff aspirations, setting off alarm bells in a franchise that has invested more than anyone else.
In the midst of this chaos, all the spotlight is on Juan Soto. The Dominican outfielder was not only acquired as the offensive figure of the project, but also signed a historic $765 million, 15-year contract, the highest in baseball history.
With that figure comes immediate demand and although his performance has improved in recent weeks, it has still not been enough to stop the collective decline.
Juan Soto’s contract puts him under pressure: is he performing as well as he should?
According to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, Soto is in a “definite pressure cooker”. In his analysis he pointed out: “Signing a $765 million contract comes with certain responsibilities, perhaps the most important of which is to ensure that your team does not go directly from the National League Championship Series to missing the playoffs… in your first season.”
After a worrying start with an OPS of .745 and only eight home runs in his first 55 games, the left-handed hitter began to regain ground and improve his OPS of .983 and 18 home runs in the next 58 games, surpassing his career average. However, the impact has not been enough because the Mets have a record of 18-29 since mid-June.
Juan Soto improves his numbers, but the Mets keep losing
Soto has started to hit with power again hitting home runs in three consecutive games, including his most recent against the Brewers. Even so, all of them have been solo, with no runners on base, which makes it clear that the offense around him is not working either.
Statistics reflect his direct influence, the Mets are 46-24 when Soto gets at least one hit, but fall to 17-29 when he does not. This underlines what New York fans feared, that every hitless game by Soto was perceived as a “stab in the heart” for a team that has gone 40 years without a World Series title.
With the calendar approaching its final stretch, Juan Soto can no longer afford to make mistakes and his contract makes him the face of the franchise, the Mets can no longer afford another October without baseball.
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