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Carlos Mendoza Outlines Where Juan Soto Will Bat in Mets' Lineup

Mendoza is leaning towards slotting Soto behind Lindor in the Mets batting order.

Tim Capurso

Soto talks to Lindor before taking batting practice.
Soto talks to Lindor before taking batting practice. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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Two months after he signed the dotted line on a record, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, Juan Soto on February 16 arrived at the club's spring training site in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and the euphoric excitement of the fanbase in Queens, which reached a fever pitch when news of his signing broke, ignited again as fans realized that, yes, this was actually happening.

But his arrival at camp meant that it was also time for Soto and the Mets to get to work. One of the first orders of business? Soto's spot in the Mets' batting order.

Speaking to Gary Apple of SNY on Wednesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that he is currently envisioning Soto slotting into the two-hole behind All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, who is slated to bat leadoff.

Entering this past season with the New York Yankees, Soto had spent the brunt of his career batting second and third, and predominantly the latter. But with the Yankees Soto made the majority of his starts in the two-hole ahead of American League MVP Aaron Judge, and clubbed a career-high 41 home runs while ranking second to only Judge in OBP in all of baseball.

Soto's ability to get on base—he's the active career leader in OBP at .420—along with his ability to hit for both average and power makes him an ideal fit at the top of the order, particularly behind the power-speed threat Lindor.

How the rest of the Mets' lineup shakes out is anybody's guess. But there aren't too many wrong answers for Mendoza, who can still pencil in two-time Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso, '24 postseason breakout star Mark Vientos, power-hitting catcher Francisco Alvarez and veteran outfielder Brandon Nimmo, among others, behind Lindor and Soto.

New York begins Grapefruit League play on Saturday and opens the '25 regular season on March 27 against the Houston Astros.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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