Juan Soto ended the Mets’ 6-5 loss to the Cubs on Saturday night with a grounder to second, completing an 0-for-5 night for the slugger.
He’s gotten away from hitting the ball on the ground as much as he did earlier in the season, and the change helped spark a recent hot streak that wasn’t on display versus Chicago. Hitting coach Eric Chávez knows it’s those ground balls that can make Soto look mortal.
“Everyone’s got a bugaboo and his has always been hitting the ball on the ground,’’ Chávez said of Soto before the game. “That’s been his miss. It’s a give and take with what he does well. He has a flat swing and sometimes that happens when the ball is going down and he hits the top of the ball. He’s done it his whole career. Even playing against him, we knew that about ground balls.”
The solution: Nothing.
“You don’t change anything,’’ Chávez said. “To be honest with you, he’s just more comfortable. There was nothing wrong with his swing. You can tell by his body language, not as a coach, but as a person, you can see he’s more comfortable.”
And there’s no way to rush that process.
“Everyone has to go through that themselves,’’ Chávez said. “People say, ‘He signed an $800 million contract, he should get a hit every at-bat. That’s not reality. He made a big decision to come here [from the Yankees]. I know it’s only 20 minutes away [from The Bronx], but it’s night and day. It’s completely different. Of course, it took time to adjust.”
After seeing teams swipe bases against them at an alarming rate early last season, the Mets brought in Luis Torrens and his defensive prowess helped turn that part of their game.
Still, the Mets allowed the fifth-most steals in the majors.
So far this season, with Francisco Alvarez having improved that part of his game, the Mets have thrown out 14 potential base stealers — tied for the most in the majors — and have given up just 14, the second fewest in the league.
Alvarez made a throwing error in the first inning on Saturday, but also picked off Michael Busch at first base in the third.
In the bottom of the third, Alvarez was drilled in the left hand by a 95 mph four-seamer by Cade Horton, who was making his MLB debut.
Alvarez was checked out by trainers at first base and remained in the game.
A day after the organization’s No. 2 pitching prospect, Nolan McLean, threw seven scoreless innings in his debut at Triple-A Syracuse, the Mets third-ranked pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Jonah Tong, pitched 6 ²/₃ perfect innings for Double-A Binghamton on Saturday, part of a seven-inning perfect game in the second game of a doubleheader.
The 21-year-old Tong, also a right-hander, whiffed 13 before being replaced with one out to go in the game after 99 pitches by TJ Shook, who got the final out.
Also with Binghamton Saturday, Ronny Mauricio took another step forward in his comeback from a torn ACL suffered two offseasons ago, as the infielder played his first game at Double-A in his rehab assignment.
Mauricio played third base and hit an RBI double in the first game of a doubleheader against Reading.
Jose Siri, out with a fractured left tibia, is progressing better than anticipated, according to Mendoza. “I didn’t think he’d be doing some running and hitting in the cages, tee and toss, playing catch [and] doing some light sprints.”
There’s still no timetable for the outfielder’s return.
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