HOUSTON -- Juan Soto never took his eyes off the ball, staring it down as it soared over the fence. He took a few casual steps toward first, the look on his face offering a mix of braggadocio and self-satisfaction. It wasn’t until the home run had completed its full, 390-foot arc that he put his head down and trotted around the bases.
Consider that display the first of many, many, many to come.
A day after striking out with the tying runs on base to end an Opening Day loss, Soto came through Friday with a third-inning solo shot off Astros right-hander Hunter Brown, leading the Mets to a 3-1 victory at Daikin Park. It was the type of jolt that would have been significant regardless of the setting. But in this case, the setting mattered -- this was Soto’s first long ball since signing a 15-year contract with the team.
This was an early glimpse into who he can be, what he can do.
“That’s why he got $765 million,” teammate Francisco Lindor said.
As accomplished a power hitter as just about anyone in the game, Soto is coming off a campaign that saw him hit a career-high 41 homers with the Yankees. Over the five full seasons of his career, he’s averaged 33 per year.
Though Soto has hit longer and harder home runs in the past, this one provided a bit of early redemption for the outfielder, who had whiffed against Astros closer Josh Hader to seal the Mets’ Opening Day loss. A day later, facing Brown, Soto pulled a 95.9 mph cutter over the fence, taking a pitch a few inches above the strike zone and sending it screaming into the stands on a line.
“I mean, incredible -- 1-2, 95 mile-an-hour cutter up and in, and he parks it?” reliever Reed Garrett said. “There’s a reason why he is who he is. He’s a beast.”
The primary beneficiary was starting pitcher Tylor Megill, who earned the win with five-plus solid innings. The assist went to Garrett, who escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth without allowing any damage. There was plenty to like, as well, from Edwin Díaz, who gained back most of his missing spring velocity during a perfect ninth inning.
But the show belonged to the showman, which in this case was Soto.
“It’s always great to have the first one,” he said.
Asked afterward if he felt any pressure to produce early in his Mets tenure, given his outsized reputation and the size of the contract, Soto answered instantly: “No.”
And why should he stress? He’s done this sort of thing enough times with enough teams to assume success will come. His peers are Hall of Famers. With Friday’s stat line in the books, Soto is one game shy of matching Mel Ott for the fifth-most contests with a homer and a walk before a player’s 27th birthday. The other four on that list? Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Matthews and Mike Trout.
Before facing Brown, Soto spoke to left-handed teammates Jesse Winker and Brett Baty, who noted that the Astros' starter seemed comfortable throwing two-strike pitches up in the zone. Armed with that knowledge, Soto said he was “hunting” the exact pitch that Brown threw, which allowed him to pull a pitch above the strike zone well over the fence.
“Not easy to do,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You’re talking about a pitch that’s out of the strike zone, up and in … and he’s able to turn on it and hit it on a line like that. Yeah, amazing.”
“That was exactly where I wanted to throw it,” Brown said. “That guy’s a really good player, and he put a better swing on it.”
If Soto averages even 20 homers per year over the life of his contract, he’ll retire with more than any Met in history (unless Pete Alonso has something to say about that), and finish with over 500 for his career. Even if Soto doesn’t reach those heights, he’s going to hit many, many more balls out of ballparks over the next decade and a half.
Still, even Soto admitted that the first one feels nice. Asked if he enjoyed it as much as his strut out of the batter’s box seemed to indicate, Soto acknowledged the obvious truth.
“What do you think?” he said. “Every homer is fun.”