Juan Soto BOOED at Citi Field as Mets' summer skid continues

New York Post

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00:00It has been a rough stretch for the Mets, who have lost eight of their last nine games,

00:05and they were nearly no hit yesterday.

00:07It's hard to believe this is the same team who played so well earlier this season.

00:11Let's break all this down with Tyler Ward, who's joining me in studio.

00:14Tyler, let's start with Juan Soto.

00:16Soto has not been having the season Mets fans expected when he signed that massive deal this offseason,

00:21and he was booed at Citi Field yesterday.

00:23So was that justified?

00:25I mean, I'm never one of those people that heavily advocates for booing the fans.

00:28Usually I'm going to bat for the players, especially, be like, don't go ahead and do that

00:33because that's only going to put them in a negative mindset.

00:36But at the same time, when you look at those Citi Field prices, I mean, it's $40 for parking alone,

00:40and then you mean to tell me you go out your way to attend a game and they get one hit

00:43where they don't get their first hit until the ninth inning, I can understand the frustration, you know,

00:48because at the end of the day, the fans make the team.

00:50So you have to view it in that aspect.

00:52And while I am not, again, a heavy proponent of booing against a guy like Juan Soto

00:56in his first year on the club, let him get acclimated regardless of the dollars.

01:00I do understand that rightful counter, though.

01:01If you're spending your hard-earned money to attend games,

01:03then you should be able to at least voice your displeasure when the team isn't performing well.

01:08Sure, sure.

01:08But I do think with Soto, you know, I feel like the expectations are so high immediately,

01:13and you're going to have to kind of ride this out a little bit

01:16because he's going to be here for a while, and, you know, I think he'll have those ups and downs,

01:20and hopefully at some point we'll see that superstar that we've seen in the past from him.

01:24Oh, yeah. Again, it's year one with Soto.

01:27We've seen a lot of good out of him.

01:28You know, we talk about him right now as if he doesn't have the most home runs on the team with 26 or so.

01:33The biggest difference that we've seen, though, when it comes to Juan Soto now with the Mets

01:36is how is he properly finding himself entering the fold in unison with everyone.

01:41It feels like a lot of the times when he's performed well this year,

01:44it's been in him more kind of those individual performances, you know, those solo home runs

01:49or, you know, just being able to drive in a run or so.

01:51Like, there's a lot of aspects to his game that I think we can all agree we want to see more of,

01:55and that's hopefully what we're going to get here for the major of the season.

01:58Yeah, we'll see how that goes.

01:59I mean, speaking of struggles, the Mets rotation has been a sore spot as of late.

02:03David Peterson is the only starting pitcher to go six or more innings over the last 50 games.

02:08How can these pitchers get back on track?

02:10Is it time to call up a guy like Brandon Sprout or Nolan McLean?

02:13Yeah, I think it is time.

02:15This is something that I've been beating that drum for at least the past month and a half now.

02:19I know I'm not the only one that feels this way.

02:21When I have great conversations with other Mets fans and writers in the community,

02:24they've all been in unison by saying, why haven't they done it sooner?

02:27And this is going back to two and a half weeks ago.

02:29So, yeah, Brandon Sprout's been dominating that we've seen in AAA,

02:32especially over the past month.

02:34He has right around a .67-year Ray.

02:36Nolan McLean has been Mr. Consistent, as I like to call him,

02:39because all year long there's been no starter in the minor leagues.

02:42That's really been as consistent as him there at the AAA level specifically.

02:46So, I think when you look at McLean, his consistency,

02:49and now with Sprout's finally showing more of what fans got excited about

02:52with him being a high-rising prospect last year,

02:55at minimum one of those guys needs to be considered

02:57when you look at the lack of length with this rotation right now.

03:00Because, as you said, David Pearson is the only one providing length.

03:03Everyone else is only averaging 4.2 innings.

03:05Like, that is not going to get the job done.

03:07The Mets need to consider some type of reinforcement now.

03:09Yeah, just something to spark them a little bit.

03:11They've also been struggling at the plate.

03:13Do you think they might consider a switch-up on the coaching staff

03:17or just something like that just to spark something?

03:20Yeah, I mean, the fans want a switch-up when it comes to the coaching staff,

03:23no doubt.

03:24And usually they want that after, you know,

03:25you lose your first five games of the year,

03:27so you don't want to take it to heart every single time.

03:29But in the case of right now, there are some reasons to justify

03:33maybe why the Mets should make that move.

03:35And David Stearns is not a president that usually acts in short-term reaction,

03:39especially with the fans.

03:40So the last thing that we should expect is the Mets to inevitably part ways

03:44with, say, one of their hitting coaches,

03:46which have been in a lot of those hot-bun topics like Eric Chavez

03:49or Jeremy Barnes.

03:50But I think the criticism is not only noted,

03:53but something needs to be held accountable when it comes to this team,

03:56and for a couple reasons.

03:58We know that they've had their struggles,

03:59but offensively specifically, that has been a glaring hole for them

04:03all year long with runners in a scoring position.

04:06And I can't think of a single team in baseball that's ever gone

04:08as far as what the Mets did last year, a couple games shy of the World Series,

04:12while having a bottom-three statistic in the game

04:14when it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position.

04:17So that's just one of multiple things that's plagued this offense,

04:20and that becomes more of a philosophy issue

04:23than it is just an individual player issue.

04:25They collectively are having these problems.

04:27Yeah, absolutely.

04:28And if there ever was a time when the Mets really needed to turn around,

04:31it's now, which might be a struggle,

04:33because they're heading to Milwaukee for a three-game set with the Brewers,

04:36who currently own the best record in baseball.

04:38Carlos Mendoza said this team needs to find a way to turn the switch.

04:42So, Tyler, how do they do that,

04:44and what do you need to see from the Mets this weekend?

04:46They need to get some type of moxie going.

04:48You know, when we think of last year,

04:49they were a team that went well below expectations,

04:5211 games below .500, right?

04:54And then they said, okay, everyone's doubting us,

04:56so let's go out and prove them wrong.

04:58And they took advantage of that, the lack of pressure,

05:00and utilized it for good.

05:02They were the best team in all of the regular season

05:03throughout summer of last year.

05:05And again, as far as they did, just two games shy of the World Series,

05:08you look at that in comparison to this season,

05:10there's a complete lack of identity.

05:12There is not that same leadership aspect that you're hoping,

05:14not to say that Lindor isn't doing what he typically does,

05:17because I'm sure he's doing a great job in the clubhouse as well as on the field.

05:20But the results just aren't there right now.

05:22And then you look at guys like Carlos Mendoza, Mets manager,

05:25what about his voice is maybe not getting through enough to the club?

05:28Is there maybe something that he himself needs to do more on a vocal front

05:32to get everyone and their ducks in a row?

05:34Or is this more of one of those things that the players just have to come together,

05:37maybe rally around something silly?

05:39They just have to get a spark.

05:40You know, they don't have the OMG.

05:42They don't have the Grimace.

05:42They don't have the rally you-know-what,

05:44all these different things that they could utilize.

05:46So I think that they just need to find something to stick with,

05:48but to actually use it for good the way that they did so last year.

05:52Yeah, and they know, they've done it before.

05:54They've kind of gotten out of these slumps, and we'll have to see how it goes.

05:57Milwaukee's going to be a tough place this weekend,

05:58but all eyes are on the Mets as they, you know,

06:01try to find that spark and flip that switch.

06:03Tyler, thanks for coming to the studio today.

06:05Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

06:05I appreciate it as well.

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