Inside The Mets

Mets' early run of plate discipline fails to translate across entire spring

After coming out of the gate strong in the plate discipline department, the New York Mets failed to see that translate across all of Spring Training.

Troy Brock

Mar 24, 2025; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on toward third base as New York Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra (79) checks for a swing during the first inning at Clover Park.
Mar 24, 2025; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on toward third base as New York Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra (79) checks for a swing during the first inning at Clover Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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The New York Mets came out of the gate strong with their plate discipline to start Spring Training. Now that the exhibitions are over, that ability cratered down the stretch.

It looked promising after only three games. At that point, the team carried a strikeout rate of 19.6% across 112 plate appearances; a drastic improvement over their 2024 rate of 22.4% across the full season, albeit in a small sample size.

Read more: Early spring training trend could benefit New York Mets' offense

Spring Training is now over, and the regular season is upon us. That small sample success did not translate across all of Spring Training. In fact, the team's strikeout rate this spring was slightly worse than it was in 2024, coming in at 22.6%, though that does fall in line with the MLB average for last year.

The good news for the Mets is that their 262 strikeouts in Spring Training ranks as only the 18th-most in MLB. Both the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies whiffed more, with 274 and 284 respectively.

The bad news for the Mets is that the team's on-base percentage finished as the worst in MLB at only .312. The Braves were the second-worst at .315, though the Phillies carried the second-best mark at .370 behind only the Kansas City Royals.

Superstar outfielder Juan Soto did his best to help lift that number, posting a .391 in the metric. It was a low mark compared to his career regular-season average of .421, but still better than any full team in the sport.

This could all mean nothing. New York could come out of the gate hot on Opening Day against a severely depleted Houston Astros squad and hit the ground running with sights firmly set on the postseason.

It could also mean that even with Soto in the lineup, the strikeouts will continue to pile up with many coming at inopportune times.

Last year, the Mets had Jose Iglesias, one of the preeminent bat-to-ball guys in baseball today. This year, he is suiting up for the San Diego Padres. While Soto does carry more walks than strikeouts in his career, he does still strike out.

Regardless, the Mets still have a strong lineup, which is easily the strength of this team. Strikeouts are becoming a part of the game more and more with every passing year and with every increase in the average velocity of pitches. As long as the team can stay around the league-average strikeout rate, it should not be a problem in the grand scheme of things.

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Troy Brock
TROY BROCK

Troy Brock is an up and comer in the sports journalism landscape. After starting on Medium, he quickly made his way to online publications Last Word on Sports and Athlon before bringing his work to the esteemed Sports Illustrated. You can find Troy on Twitter/X @TroyBBaseball

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