Clutch double in two-hit game puts Soto back on right track

NEW YORK -- Had Juan Soto not entered the night on one of the longest hitless streaks of his career, his RBI double in the third inning Friday would have been a mere footnote of the Mets’ 4-2 win over the Rockies, which also featured Francisco Lindor homers from both sides of the plate and another strong outing by David Peterson.

But anyone who has even remotely followed Soto’s transition to the club understands his story is more complicated than that.

Over his first two months in Queens, Soto has found himself criticized, maligned and often unsuccessful. During a 24-minute press conference before Friday’s game at Citi Field, seven of the first eight questions posed to Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns were about his $765 million signing.

“He certainly wants results at a higher level than what we’ve seen so far,” Stearns said in response to one of them. “But I also understand it is natural when a player signs a big contract -- and this was a really big contract -- if the results aren’t immediate, there are going to be questions and there are going to be reactions. I completely get that. I think Juan does, too.”

The only way for Soto to silence them, or at least to soften their pointedness, would be to hit -- something he began doing again in front of an encouraging Friday night crowd at Citi Field. Batting with Lindor on first and two outs in the third inning, Soto ripped a 113-mph RBI double to the wall in right-center field to snap an 0-for-17 skid. Three innings later, Soto dunked a single up the middle to complete just his second multi-hit game in three weeks.

“He is only going to continue to climb,” Lindor said. “Everybody from the outside keeps saying, ‘Where’s Soto? Where’s Soto?’ We have seen it. He has had good at-bats weekly. I think today, the ball fell for him.”

Before Friday evening, it was clear that Soto was not right. Although Soto’s April numbers suggested he was still dictating at-bats and producing loud contact, his May metrics were less impressive. In the eyes of many around the team, Soto had become too passive at the plate, allowing himself to fall into too many pitcher’s counts. His quality of contact had diminished.

Midway through the month, manager Carlos Mendoza shifted Soto one spot down the lineup -- a minor thing, but something that probably wouldn’t have happened had the initial arrangement been productive.

“Do I think he’s trying to do a little bit too much right now? Yeah, I think he’s probably trying to do a little bit too much right now,” Stearns said before Friday’s game.

Then there was all the anecdotal evidence of trouble in paradise: Soto’s inability to silence an army of Subway Series boobirds in the Bronx; his hustle issues that weekend and the following week in Boston; the barrage of hot takes (whether fair or not) about him questioning his decision to sign with the Mets; multiple quick escapes from Citi Field before reporters were allowed into the postgame clubhouse.

None of that pointed to a player having a grand old time in Flushing. And yet through it all, teammates and Mets officials insisted a different version of Soto would be coming.

“It’s a matter of time,” Soto said. “We don’t know when it’s going to come through. I’m just going to keep working on it.”

A two-hit performance against one of the worst teams in baseball history can’t erase all the issues in a single night, but perhaps it will wind up being a start. In addition to his offensive contributions, Soto made a running catch in right field in the seventh inning (albeit after taking a curvaceous route to the ball). Mendoza was more impressed with the way in which Soto chased down a Ryan McMahon RBI double in the right-field corner, preventing an important second run from scoring in the sixth.

Altogether, it was one of Soto’s better games as a Met, at a time when he needed one -- if for no other reason than to quiet the noise surrounding the start to his Mets career.

“This hasn’t been a month where he’s performed up to the Juan Soto standard that everyone’s become accustomed to,” Stearns said. “It’s a very, very high standard. But even the best of players go through ups and downs. It’s our job to help him continue to get through that.”