To Become the Best: The One Assignment Left for Juan Soto — Defense

Topic: MLB / New York Mets / Player Development  |  Key Metric: Statcast Outs Above Average (OAA)

Juan Soto is widely regarded as one of the best hitters on the planet. At the plate, he checks every box: elite strike-zone control, relentless on-base ability, and impact power that plays in any ballpark. But when the conversation turns from the batter’s box to the outfield grass, one word still follows him: question marks.

If Soto continues to hit the way he did in 2025 for the remainder of his Mets tenure, the organization will have something few franchises ever get to enjoy: a Hall-of-Fame-caliber bat anchoring the lineup for a decade or more. In that scenario, New York would not necessarily need him to also be a premium defender in the corners.

And yet, Soto himself is not satisfied. In an interview earlier this week with the Dominican Republic Winter League, he explained how aggressively he is working ahead of the 2026 season — and he made it clear that defense is the centerpiece of the next chapter of his development.

Soto’s mindset: “Defense will be a key part of my growth going forward… People think there’s nothing left for me to do, but a real ballplayer’s pride is in continuously showing something new — something special that separates you from others.”

The Real Question: Can He Actually Do It?

Wanting to improve is one thing. Pulling it off — especially in the middle of a career — is another. Noticeable defensive growth in the outfield is hard because it often depends on traits that are difficult to “teach” late: first-step explosiveness, route efficiency under pressure, confidence on reads, and the ability to close space consistently over a long season.

Still, Soto has already shown in Queens that he can identify a weakness, attack it with preparation and intent, and then convert it into tangible results. That history is the main reason Mets fans can reasonably believe that this is not just offseason talk.

How Far He Has to Go: The Statcast Reality

The 2025 numbers were brutal. In his first season in Queens, Soto posted -12 in Statcast Outs Above Average (OAA), effectively placing him among the very worst defensive outfielders in MLB by that metric.

A key context point: it is extremely rare for an outfielder who “gives away” 10 or more outs in a season to rebound all the way back to average. Statcast’s tracking era now stretches beyond a decade, and while dramatic turnarounds do exist, they are the exception — not the rule.

Why -12 Matters

• OAA is opportunity-adjusted: it accounts for the difficulty of plays based on tracking data.
• -12 is not “slightly below average”: it’s a season-level deficit that changes outcomes.
• Reversal is uncommon: major jumps typically require a meaningful change in process.

A Modern Example: Adolis García’s Turnaround

One recent comparison does offer hope. Adolis García managed a sharp defensive rebound with the Texas Rangers. After recording -12 OAA in 2024 — near the bottom of the league — he bounced back to +1 in 2025.

But there is an important difference between García’s case and Soto’s. García had built a longer track record as a strong defensive outfielder before his sudden dip. That suggests his 2024 collapse may have been driven by a temporary factor — such as a chronic knee issue, lingering discomfort, or the mental fatigue that can accompany a prolonged offensive slump.

Soto’s Defensive Profile: More Than a One-Year Problem

Soto’s situation is more complicated because he has logged more below-average seasons in the outfield across his career. For example, in 2022 his OAA sat at -17, and his career total is cited at -41.

That said, his defense has not been uniformly poor every single year. Soto posted an above-average season (+1 OAA) in 2021 with Washington, and he has also delivered stretches of roughly league-average defense — including with the Nationals in 2019 and with the Yankees in 2024.

This Isn’t New: He’s Been Vocal About Defense Before

Soto expressing ambition on this front is not a first. When he arrived at Mets spring training last season, he publicly talked about wanting to win a Gold Glove. That never materialized — but the intent matters, because we have a very recent example of Soto turning “intent” into “output” in a different area of his game.

The 2025 Blueprint: How He Reinvented His Running Game

Before his first season in Queens, Soto said he wanted to elevate his baserunning. The result was not incremental. He led the league with 38 stolen bases, shattering his previous personal best by more than triple.

The most interesting part: he did it without suddenly becoming faster. Instead, he proved that a major leap can be built on decision-making, preparation, anticipation, and repeatable routines.

If That Same Process Transfers to the Outfield…

Defense is not the same as stealing bases, but there are overlapping levers Soto can pull that do not require a complete physical transformation:

• Pre-pitch positioning: optimizing where he starts based on hitter profiles and count leverage.
• First-step reads: improving the initial reaction and committing to the correct route sooner.
• Route efficiency: reducing wasted angles and drifting that turn “catchable” balls into hits.
• Consistency under fatigue: holding mechanics and focus across the full season.

If Soto can replicate his 2025 “upgrade model” in the outfield, the narrative changes dramatically. He would no longer be framed as a generational hitter who must be protected defensively, but as a genuinely complete superstar — one who can win games with both the bat and the glove.

Bottom Line

Soto still has a long way to go. A jump from -12 OAA to even “average” is difficult, and history says it does not happen often. But it is not impossible — and Soto’s recent record of targeted improvement gives this storyline real credibility heading into 2026.

The Mets may not need elite defense from Juan Soto to justify their investment if the bat remains Hall-of-Fame level. However, if Soto himself views defense as the final step toward becoming “the best,” then the next version of his career could be even more dangerous than the one we already know.

Juan Soto New York Mets MLB Statcast OAA Outfield Defense 2026 Season Player Development

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