The right fielder was 5-for-10 in his previous three games against the St. Louis Cardinals, including a two-run double that gave the Mets a 5-3 lead in Sunday’s win. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pointed to that hit as a “good sign” that Soto was about to break out.

Mets' outfielder Juan Soto believes that he knows why he is off to a relatively slow start at the plate in his first season in Flushing.

The bottom line: Even while Mets Twitter wrings its hands, Soto is producing at a rate that’s 37% better than league average. That kind of “struggle” would be a career year for most big leaguers. As Mintz says, “That's why Juan Soto is different. … The struggle, the strife, the worry is about a guy who is 37% better than the average hitter.”