Juan Soto Will Play Left Field For The Mets In 2026
Juan Soto signed the largest contract in sports history last offseason, and he will be making a big change this upcoming season. David Stearns announced today to the media that Soto will play left field for the Mets in 2026. He’s never been a good defensive outfielder, and he definitely struggled in right field last season.
He has played left field in his career before, so this won’t be a drastic change for the young superstar. Soto was a primary left fielder from 2018 to 2020 and in 2023, where he’s played 4,000.2 career innings. With the Mets prioritizing run prevention this offseason, shifting Soto over to left will help a ton in that regard.
Soto Goes To Left Field
While his bat is elite, his defense has always been what holds him back. In his first season with the Mets, Soto posted a -12 outs above average. This was amongst the worst in all of baseball. Things were easier for Juan Soto in 2024 because he played in a short right field with the Yankees, even though he was a poor defender.
Playing every day in right at Citi Field was definitely not an easy task for him, but moving to left field will put him in a better position. The right-center gap ranges from 375-398 ft, which can be vast, while the left-center gap ranges from 358-385 ft, which, while shorter than the right, is also deep.
Luis Robert Jr Will Help
One of the biggest factors that will help Juan Soto this upcoming season is playing alongside Luis Robert Jr in the outfield. Robert is one of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball and will help close the big gaps and make game-changing plays. Soto played next to Brandon Nimmo next year, who’s solid, but not as good as Robert is out there. David Stearns did everything he could to improve the outfield defensively, and I think we’ll see a big jump compared to the numbers from last season.
Surely Soto will have his highs and lows this season, but you can’t blame the front office; it’s on Soto to make the necessary plays. We’ll see how he and Robert look in spring training, as Carlos Mendoza looks to give them extensive reps to become more familiar with each other’s play styles.
All Eyes Are On The Mets
After an extremely disappointing 2025 season, all eyes are on the New York Mets to bounce back this year. The offseason started poorly, with the loss of Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso, but David Stearns and Steve Cohen managed to bounce back nicely. Their lineup is very well-rounded, and it will take an even bigger leap forward if Robert and Semien return to their 2023 form.
It will be very exciting to see the new look Mets this year after Sterns completely revamped the entire roster from top to bottom. The starting rotation is a lot stronger with the addition of Freddy Peralta, and the back end of the bullpen is drastically different, headlined by Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. The Mets have a strong chance to win a World Series, but will have to get past the all-mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.
