Carlos Mendoza likes what he is seeing from Juan Soto.
Although Soto went hitless in Tuesday night’s 8-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Mendoza believes the new Mets slugger is showing signs of breaking out.
“He went 0-for-3 and hit two balls over 100 mph, one of them the other way,” Mendoza said before Wednesday’s game against the D-Backs at Citi Field. “He got a walk. So he’s 0-for-3, and we score eight. He’s giving quality at-bats.”
The lefty-swinging Soto’s second-inning lineout to center field jumped off his bat at 104 mph, while his fourth-inning lineout to left field had an exit velocity of 101.4 mph. Both at-bats came against Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.
That followed a four-game series in Washington in which Soto went 6-for-15 with a pair of doubles.
“We went through a stretch where he was hitting a lot of balls on the ground, even at 108 [mph], but it was ground balls,” Mendoza said. “I see him now with some more line drives. We saw it against the Nationals. Yesterday, there was a couple of balls, one to center, one to left, against a lefty. There are some good signs.”
Soto, 26, entered Wednesday with a .250 average, three home runs, 12 RBI, a .374 on-base percentage and a .772 OPS through 30 games with the Mets, with whom he signed a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract in the offseason.
“He’ll be alright,” Mendoza said of Soto, who finished third in American League MVP voting last season with the Yankees.
A breakout by Soto would further enhance a Mets lineup that entered Wednesday averaging 4.8 runs per game and that had scored at least seven runs on three consecutive days.
Helping to fuel that offensive outburst have been second baseman Jeff McNeil, who began Wednesday with four hits, including a home run, in three games this season; and catcher Francisco Alvarez, who had four hits, including a homer and a double, in four games.
McNeil (right oblique strain) and Alvarez (left hand fracture) both returned last week after beginning the season on the injured list.
“We’ve got Alvy, we’ve got Jeff, and you can feel the impact and how deep it makes our lineup,” Mendoza said Wednesday.
The Mets have also benefited from strong starts by Pete Alonso, who began the day with a .346 average and a National League-best 1.126 OPS, and Francisco Lindor, who was hitting .302 with an .855 OPS.
“You’re talking about righties, lefties, guys that put the ball in play, guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Mendoza said. “When they’re clicking, I think we’re capable of putting together games like the one last night, the night before.”
The Mets scored 19 runs in Monday’s win in Washington, where Brandon Nimmo tied a single-game franchise record with nine RBI.
“It’s not always going to be like that,” Mendoza said of the Mets’ surge. “It’s not as easy as they’re making it look. It’s hard to hit at this level, but it’s good to see them performing.”
