Juan Soto's 23rd home run of season helps Mets take series from Royals

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Jul 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For all of the consternation, negative narratives and dizzying gossip that have surrounded Juan Soto since the start of the season, the New York Mets superstar right fielder will end the first half of the 2025 campaign with numbers similar to what he’s posted in the first half of previous seasons.

A two-run homer off of Kansas City Royals right-hander Jonathan Bowlan led the Mets to a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. It was the 23rd of the season for Soto, tying his career-high mark for the first half of a season and matching his pre-All-Star break total last year with the Yankees.

Somehow he’s not an All-Star, according to Major League Baseball.

“You just forget about that,” Soto said. “It’s baseball, the bottom line is, like I said before, it’s just a roster of [34] players. There are, like, over 300 players in [each] league, so it’s really tough to get in and whatever. Next time, I just want to try harder and see what I can do.”

Whatever you believe about the 26-year-old who signed the largest contract the sport has ever seen in December, this much is true: The Mets are a better team with Soto.

“I feel like my power showed up in the first half, so I feel like I’m happy with that,” Soto said. “I’ve definitely got to improve a couple things in my swing, but I had to battle from the beginning all the way to where we are now. So I definitely feel good because the power is there.”

There are statistical deviations in every season. Last year, Soto’s 180 wRC+ meant he created 80% more runs than league average when adjusted for park. This year, it’s 57% after the first half of the season, which might be down from last year, but it’s about average for his career (158 wRC+). His .275 BaBIP also suggests some bad luck.

He may not have gotten hot right out of the gate, but the Mets preached patience, citing the expected numbers. According to Statcast, his expected numbers are about what they were last season and on par with his career numbers.

“It’s everything that we’ve seen since Day 1,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “His ability to control the strike zone, his ability to make elite swing decisions, the contact, it’s all pretty impressive. He uses the whole field. When you look at the underlying numbers, the eye test, everything tells you that this is one of the best players in the game.”

Soto didn’t need any luck in the fourth inning against the Royals. A player known for his exceptional patience at the plate, Soto worked the count full on Bowlan (1-2) before smashing a slider 435 feet to right field with one on and none out, his second home run in as many days.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, the scheduled starter, was scratched in the morning with an illness, forcing the Royals (46-50) to throw a bullpen game. The Mets struggled to put runners on base facing a different right-hander every inning or two after that, giving right-hander Frankie Montas little to work with. Finally, they got separation for the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth when Pete Alonso hit a one-out double off right-hander Lucas Erceg, and Jeff McNeil’s single sent him home.

Montas gave up back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the sixth to make it a one-run lead, and was then replaced by Reed Garrett, who retired the Royals’ 2-4 hitters to strand Jonathan India. In just his fourth start of the season, Montas earned the win (2-1), limiting Kansas City to one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts, using his splitter to get chases out of the zone.

“I thought I threw some good ones,” Montas said. “That was one of my main goals today, was to throw my splitter for strike and chase.”

The bullpen was good from there, but the defense was even better.

In the bottom of the seventh, rookie right fielder Jac Caglianone, the ninth-rated prospect in baseball before his big league call-up in June, sent a cutter from right-hander Chris Devenski 406 feet to center field with one on and none out, but Tyrone Taylor tracked it down at the warning track for the first out. Second baseman Luisangel Acuña made a stellar play to help Devenski get out of the inning leaving runners on the corners.

Catcher Luis Torrens connected with Lindor in the eighth to catch Bobby Witt Jr. stealing.

“It was a huge win, and a good team win,” Mendoza said. “But the defense won us the game right there.”

A pitch-efficient Edwin Diaz worked a six-out save (19) to secure the series win for the Mets (55-41).

With one more game until the break, the Mets can take solace in ending the first half on a high note, and knowing Soto is nothing short of the player they thought they were getting.

“It’s hard to understand and believe that he’s going home for the next four days, as opposed to going to Atlanta,” Mendoza said. “But that’s something that’s out of his hands and out of our hands. The good thing is he continues to play the way he’s capable, and as expected.”

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