With a league-best 18-7 record and a seven-game winning streak, the New York Mets are off to a scorching start in the 2025 Major League Baseball season. Back-to-back series sweeps of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies,

The bottom line: Even while Mets Twitter wrings its hands, Soto is producing at a rate that’s 37% better than league average. That kind of “struggle” would be a career year for most big leaguers. As Mintz says, “That's why Juan Soto is different. … The struggle, the strife, the worry is about a guy who is 37% better than the average hitter.”

If anything, Soto’s presence adds a new wrinkle in a rivalry that has lost its luster over the last five years.