The Mets‘ seeming inability to drive in runs this season has been confounding, especially when you consider how hard they’re trying to make things happen on the basepaths. They’ve upped the action when it comes to stealing bases and taking extra bases on hits or ground balls this season, with their 90.3% rate leading all of baseball.
Heading into the week, the Mets have stolen 34 consecutive stolen bases safely, the longest active streak in baseball. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto are each tied for the team lead with 18 swipes. For the former, this is par for the course; Lindor has totaled 31 and 29 stolen bases in each of his last two seasons. For Soto, however, 18 beats his previous career-high mark by six.
“It’s not all of the time you’re going to be hitting .300,” Soto recently told the Daily News. “You’ve got to find a way to help the team.”
It’s not exactly a new club he’s added to his bag this season.
Soto has made it a goal to steal more bases every season, but it hasn’t always been possible with where previous teams have had him in the batting order. He stole 12 bags with the San Diego Padres in 2023, matching his previous career-high mark from 2019, but last year with the Yankees, he only tried to steal 11 times and was successful only seven. With Aaron Judge hitting third behind him, the Yankees held him back.
Soto also never had this much success on the basepaths in the past. This season, working with baserunning coordinator Antoan Richardson, Soto is 18-for-19, with 1 baserunning run created, according to Statcast, the highest of his career. His times from home plate to first have increased from last season, even if his overall sprint speed hasn’t.
“I feel really, really good [on the basepaths],” Soto said. “I feel like everything that they’ve given me, I’ve been more comfortable with.”
Getting those extra bases have become more than just advantageous for the Mets — they’ve almost become crucial. Soto has always gotten on base more often than most hitters, and it’s no different this season. The right fielder leads the league in walks (89) and his .383 on-base percentage is the ninth-highest in baseball.
But in recent weeks, it’s felt as though he’s the only one in the Mets lineup able to get on base on a somewhat regular basis. Jeff McNeil, Francisco Alvarez and Starling Marte have been producing in the absence of the Mets’ big bats, but Soto was the one who broke up the no-hitter in the ninth inning last week against the Cleveland Guardians, and Soto is the one Mets fans are counting on to make something happen.
It’s obvious he’s looking to make something happen every time he reaches first, which is a credit to Richardson, who he describes as one of the best baserunning coaches he’s ever had.
“I really trust him,” Soto said. “At the beginning, I was thinking like, ‘Damn, this kind of scary, but he really knows what he’s doing, so you’ve just to trust what he’s got and go from there.”
Richardson is lauded by the Mets for his preparation and communication. The 41-year-old Bahamian is the answer to a trivia question as the pinch-runner who scored on Derek Jeter’s walk-off single in the former Yankees captain’s final at-bat at Yankee Stadium. Richardson challenges runners by putting them in positions they might not otherwise be used to, but when they see results, they learn to trust him.
“Sometimes he tells you to get to a spot where it gets uncomfortable, or to go back to the base,” Soto said. “Sometimes he holds you, and you’re like, ‘What is going on?’”
What’s going on is that Richardson sees something at first base that his runners might not see, be it with the pitcher or the catcher.
“He does his magic,” Soto said.
The Mets are going to need more magic than Richardson and Soto, but in the midst of this dismal stretch of games, the running game is the one aspect of their game that’s actually working.
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