This week's mail bag entry Juan Sotostart, Chandler SimpsonProfile, Ace-Caliber starter who may be available in the distance, Relief Ivan Herreraand more.
Ralph asked:
What do you think so far about Juan Soto’s underperforming performance?
My opinion is that it's nothing.
The first question is, how boring is it? The Soto has a 132 WRC+ to 214 disk appearance. He said, Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellingertheir performance fans usually seem to be happy with it.
Given that he is the highest-paid player in baseball, expectations for Soto are higher. One problem that Soto may persist is that many people don’t appreciate the shape of his offensive contributions, as it’s boring to be second on the walk. I didn't consider the park adjustment, but yes, it's much better than 38 home runs, nine doubles and 26 singles games in 214 PA (SOTO) instead of hitting 12 home runs, 2 triple, 11 doubles, 21 singles and 17 walks in 203 PA (Suzuki).
I don't think most WFAN callers are looking at WRC+, but I don't know how you can easily weigh these two stat lines. Soto does experience modest power outages sometimes, such as when he skids .452 in 2022 (including Padres' .390), but still manages 146 WRC+.
The truth remains that even if we paid the right weight for his walk, Soto wouldn't hit like a superstar. In short, the “problem” is that he hit .437 on 214 pa, and we hope he can open .545 like he did in 2023-24. Indeed, Soto never had 48 games/214 PA during the 2023-24 period, he was under .461.
Unlock subscriber-specific articles, including trade rumors front desk subscriptions
- Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco visit unique subscriber articles every week.
- Join the exclusive weekly live chat with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM caliber tools such as our MLB contract tracker
