New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he’s going to have a discussion with Juan Soto about the superstar’s apparent lack of hustle during the Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
In the top of the sixth inning, Soto drove a Justin Wilson fastball deep to the opposite field for what he seemed to believe was his ninth home run of the season. However, the ball instead was knocked down by a stiff wind blowing into Fenway Park and bounced high off the Green Monster in left field.
Soto, who failed to run out of the box, was limited to a long single. Here’s a look:
As you can see, Soto soon after did make it to second base via the steal, but that won’t spare him from a conversation with his manager. “He thought he had it,” Mendoza told reporters after the game. “But with the wind and all that, and in this ballpark — anywhere, but in particular in this one, with that wall right there — you’ve got to get out of the box. So, yeah, we’ll discuss that.”
As for Soto, he downplayed the incident and defended his effort level. “I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard,” he said. “If you see it today, you can tell.”
This comes just after Soto’s boo-filled return to the Bronx, in which he went 1 for 10 at the plate (albeit with four walks) as the Mets dropped two of three to Soto’s former team, the New York Yankees.
In Sunday’s series finale, Soto also appeared to run out a ground ball with something less than full effort, at least at the outset, in what turned out to be a fairly close play at first base:
Soto is under the microscope after signing a record $765 million free-agent contract with the Mets this past offseason. While Soto has been quite productive overall in 2025 — he had an OPS+ of 136 coming into Monday’s slate — he’s been shy of his established standards, particularly in the power department. In particular, he’s hit into more double plays (nine) than he has home runs (eight).
Presumably, Soto will find his customary level soon enough. For now, though, he’s being scrutinized, and his Mets, thanks to Monday’s outcomes, have fallen out of first place for the first time since April 9.