Honestly, if you looked at the back of a baseball card halfway through last season, you might have thought the New York Mets had made a colossal mistake. People were whispering. The "overpaid" labels were flying around Citi Field faster than a 100-mph heater. But then August happened. And September. And by the time the dust settled on the most expensive contract in the history of professional sports, the Juan Soto stats this year told a story that was less about a "down year" and more about a superstar simply finding his footing in a new zip code.
$765 million is a lot of pressure. It’s "buy a small island" money. It’s "never worry about anything ever again" money. When Soto signed that 15-year mega-deal with Steve Cohen’s Mets, the expectations weren't just high; they were impossible.
The Raw Numbers: A Career Year in Disguise
Let's cut to the chase and look at what he actually did. In 2025, Soto finished with a slash line of .263/.396/.525.
Now, if you’re a purist, that .263 batting average looks a bit weird. It’s a career low for him. You’re used to seeing him flirt with .300. But if you stop there, you’re missing the forest for the trees. Soto basically decided to trade a little bit of contact for pure, unadulterated power. He clubbed a career-high 43 home runs. He drove in 105 runs. He walked 127 times, which led the entire Major Leagues and set a new Mets single-season record.
But the real shocker? The speed.
👉 See also: Dodgers Black Heritage Night 2025: Why It Matters More Than the Jersey
Juan Soto is many things—a generational hitter, a plate discipline god, a guy who does a weird shuffle in the batter’s box—but he has never been a "base stealer." Until now. He swiped 38 bases last year. That tied him for the National League lead with Oneil Cruz. Think about that for a second. The guy known for walking and waiting just decided to start running. It’s like finding out your favorite chess grandmaster is also a world-class sprinter.
Breaking Down the 2025 Splits
It was a tale of two halves. Kinda like a movie where the first hour is a bit of a slog and then the finale is just non-stop explosions.
- Before the Break: He was struggling. On May 28, his OPS was sitting at a pedestrian .745. He was hitting into groundballs 60% of the time. Fans were getting restless. He actually missed the All-Star team.
- The Second Half Surge: From August 1 through the end of the season, Soto was arguably the best hitter on the planet not named Shohei Ohtani. He posted a 1.016 OPS in that stretch and hit 18 of his 43 homers in the final two months.
Why the change? He stopped hitting the ball into the dirt. His groundball rate dropped to 40% in the second half, and his flyball rate skyrocketed. When Juan Soto starts lifting the ball, pitchers start having nightmares.
The Defensive Elephant in the Room
We have to be real here: the defense was... not great.
✨ Don't miss: College Football Top 10: What Most People Get Wrong About the 2026 Rankings
If you’re looking at Juan Soto stats this year for his glove work, you might want to look away. He finished with a -12 Outs Above Average (OAA). That’s among the worst in the league for outfielders. He struggled with the right-field corner at Citi Field, sometimes losing track of the wall or misjudging the carom.
However, he still has a cannon. He notched 8 outfield assists, which tied for the team lead. He’s never going to win a Gold Glove, but the Mets didn't pay him $765 million to catch fly balls; they paid him to destroy baseballs. And he did that.
Contextualizing the $765 Million
The contract is massive, but it’s structured in a way that actually makes sense for a 27-year-old superstar.
- Total Value: $765,000,000 over 15 years.
- AAV: Roughly $51 million per year.
- The Opt-Out: He has a chance to opt out after 2029, but the Mets can void that by bumping his salary even higher.
When you look at his 6.2 bWAR from last season, he’s already tracking to be worth the investment. He finished 7th in the league in homers and 10th in RBIs. In a year where his "expected" stats (based on how hard he hit the ball) suggested he should have hit .300 with a .628 slugging percentage, he actually underperformed his luck. That means 2026 could be even scarier for opposing pitchers.
🔗 Read more: Cleveland Guardians vs Atlanta Braves Matches: Why This Interleague Rivalry Hits Different
What to Watch for in 2026
As we head into the 2026 season, the narrative has shifted. He’s no longer the "new guy" trying to justify a record contract. He’s the centerpiece of a Mets lineup that is built to win now.
Keep an eye on his batting average with runners in scoring position. In the first half of last year, it was a dismal .180. In the second half, it jumped to .311. If he carries that second-half version of himself into April, we might be looking at an MVP trophy by October.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
If you're tracking Soto's impact this season, focus on these three things instead of just the box score:
- Launch Angle: If his groundball rate stays below 45%, he’s going to hit 40+ homers again easily.
- Sprint Speed: Watch if he keeps the green light on the bases. 38 steals wasn't a fluke; it was a tactical change.
- OAA (Outs Above Average): Even a slight improvement to "average" defensively would make him a 7 or 8-win player.
Juan Soto is a 1-of-1 talent. He takes more walks than almost anyone in history while hitting the ball harder than almost anyone in the game. The 2025 season was a massive transition, but the stats prove he’s still the "Childish Bambino" for a reason.
Stay tuned to the daily box scores—Soto is just getting started in Queens. To get the most out of your season tracking, keep a close eye on his walk-to-strikeout ratio; when that number stays near 1:1, he is virtually unpitchable.