The New York Mets are preparing to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to Citi Field in their biggest test of the season yet.

The team has surged to a 30-20 record after adding the best on-base talent in baseball, Juan Soto, over the winter. But after a highly-scrutinized Subway Series with Soto’s former team, the New York Yankees, he has looked out of sorts.

“Over the last few days, Soto has absorbed criticism largely for not running out balls during Mets losses Sunday in the Bronx and Monday in Boston,” Anthony DiComo reported for MLB.com. “Combined, the incidents served to fuel discourse that Soto has not fully adjusted to life with the Mets after joining them on a record 15-year contract over the winter.”

Following that clear lack of hustle and some other negative body language on Soto’s part, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he would have a private discussion with the player. He also opted to move Soto down in the batting order a bit.

But those changes haven’t done much. Soto went 0-3 with three strikeouts in his last game against the Boston Red Sox.

As the Mets contemplate their long-term future with him, they’ll also have to wrangle with his historically poor defense. Comparing Soto’s contract and future to those of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, Fox Sports’ Deesha Thosar noted Soto could be moved out of a defensive role soon.

“Whereas with Soto, even though he’s four years younger than Ohtani, his long-term role with the Mets figures to be at DH, and that might happen sooner than later if his defense becomes a real problem,” she wrote.

Soto is sure to figure things out at the plate and the Mets have little choice but to be patient with him. But as each at-bat is costing a significant sum, given his contract, it would be nice to see some more production.

If and when he becomes a $765 million designated hitter, his offensive production and attitude will be even more important.

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