The Mets still have a handful of weeks to determine the batting order they’ll deploy on Opening Day in late March, but their newest superstar is already excited about the lineup’s potential to produce at a formidable level.
In his first media session of spring training, Juan Soto expressed confidence in the team’s well-roundedness entering the 2025 season on Sunday, while also acknowledging the prove-it nature of playing daily with heightened expectations of a championship.
“I think it’s a pretty good lineup that we have. We have a lot of good hitters, balance in the lineup,” Soto explained in Port St. Lucie. “There’s teams out there that have a really good lineup, too… It doesn’t matter on paper if you have the best team. You’ve got to go out there and play. That’s the biggest thing. We have to show the world we have a really good lineup.”
Regardless of where Soto hits in the Mets’ order — he and manager Carlos Mendoza have yet to arrive at a decision — there’s no disputing the boost he’ll provide to a team that fell just two wins shy of a World Series appearance in 2024. The record-shattering contract the 26-year-old slugger signed back in December was justified, as he set career-high marks in home runs, hits, and runs scored with the crosstown rival Yankees last season.
Soto was sold on the Mets’ vision and blueprint for the future months ago, and he’s not at all overwhelmed by the immense pressure placed on his shoulders. But the long-awaited return of slugger Pete Alonso provided welcome reassurance to Soto, who called his new teammate “a huge piece.”
“[Alonso is] one of the best pure power hitters in the league, so we’re trying to have some of that protection,” Soto explained. “With him, we’re going to have big depth. It’s great to have him over here… We all feed off from that, we put ourselves in a good spot to do what he knows how to do… It’s not only him protecting me, but as a team, we’ve got to protect him too.”
Any combination of Soto, Alonso, and Francisco Lindor featured atop the Mets’ lineup will be feared, and the league has already placed respect on their sheer power to inflict damage. Earlier this week, MLB Network ranked the game’s ‘Best 1-3 Orders,’ and New York’s trio came in at No. 2 on the list.
