BALTIMORE — If this is Juan Soto’s way of expressing his displeasure at missing out on the All-Star Game, he’s making a rather compelling case.
In his first game since learning that he won’t be playing in the Midsummer Classic, Soto collected three hits Tuesday night at Camden Yards, including a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning of the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Orioles. He has three multihit games already this month and a pair of three-hit efforts. Since June 6, Soto is batting .356 with 10 homers and 21 RBIs.
“I hope he ends up making it,” said teammate Francisco Lindor, who played a significant role in Tuesday’s game-tying rally. “I hope he gets the recognition that he deserves.”
The Mets were trailing by four runs entering the eighth inning until Lindor and Pete Alonso each hit a two-run homer to tie things. Two innings later, Soto ripped the first pitch he saw from Yennier Cano into center field for a go-ahead single, demonstrating some of the increased aggression he has shown early in at-bats.
“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Frustrating, obviously. But I’m hoping in the next couple of days … he makes it. He’s an All-Star.”
Soto, who has not missed an All-Star Game since his first full season in 2019, finished 3-for-5 with three singles, a run scored and an RBI. He still has a chance to earn a ticket to Atlanta, but he would need another NL outfielder to drop out — something that became more likely on Tuesday, when the Braves scratched Ronald Acuña Jr. due to lower back tightness.
Atlanta won’t have an update until Wednesday on Acuña, who was scheduled to participate in the Home Run Derby and who has plenty of motivation to try to make the game in front of his hometown fans in Atlanta. Furthermore, Soto demurred when asked if he would accept an invitation as an injury replacement.
But when separately asked if he wanted to make the All-Star team in the first place, Soto replied: “What do you think? I think it’s a lot of money on the table if I make it.”
Soto’s All-Star case has plenty of merit. In his first season with the Mets, he leads NL outfielders in on-base percentage (.399), runs scored (66) and walks (72) while ranking fourth in homers (21), sixth in slugging percentage (.509) and ninth in RBIs (52). Fans around the country took notice of his ability to rebound from a slow start, ranking Soto fifth in the initial portion of All-Star balloting. But fans only had the power to vote in three starters. When it came time for the player vote, Soto was nowhere to be found.
Instead, Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Kyle Stowers and James Wood joined the NL’s three starters: Acuña, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker. Some of the difficulty in drawing up rosters is that every team must have a representative. Stowers, for instance, was one of MLB’s picks as Miami’s lone All-Star.
“It’s part of baseball,” Soto said. “It’s going to happen. There’s a lot of players out there that have great numbers that deserve to be there. It’s a roster that they’ve got to fill. They can’t take all the guys into it. It just happens.”
At the very least, the Mets will have a trio All-Stars in Lindor, Alonso and Edwin Díaz, the latter of whom pitched a perfect ninth inning Tuesday to collect the win. (Huascar Brazobán threw a dominant bottom of the 10th for the save.) But the team is hoping for one more.
When rosters were announced on Sunday, Lindor spoke about how excited he was not just to make the All-Star team, but to go to Atlanta alongside two of his teammates. To have another Met in that caravan, Lindor said Tuesday, would be even more special.
“He’s one of the best players in the league for a reason,” Lindor said of Soto. “He’s an All-Star, and he should be there. He belongs in the All-Star Game. Hopefully, he makes it. Hopefully, there’s opportunity for him to make it, so the four of us can go there and get booed.”