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(Photo by Kent J. Edwards/Getty Images)
New York Mets star Juan Soto will have a new position as the 2026 MLB season approaches. On Feb. 10, the Mets announced that Soto would be moving to left field.
Soto looks to take the left field position for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. As a result, the move during that tournament will follow him to his MLB team this upcoming season.
“It made sense for us from a roster perspective so we’re going to go forward with everyone on board with it,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Feb. 10 (h/t New York Post).
“It’s not something we really contemplated coming into the offseason, but as we had conversations over the last month it made sense.”
Amid this decision from New York, former MLB general manager Jim Duquette says the team made the right move by moving Soto to left field. Duquette pulled out Soto’s defensive stats in right field, and they weren’t flattering for the Mets standout.
“If you look at all the metrics and the eyeball test and all that, last year he was a minus-12 Outs Above Average in right field,” Duquette said during the Feb. 10 edition of “Baseball Night In New York.”
“The last time he played left field, it was, I think, a minus-7 in left. It wasn’t great. But defensively, there are fewer balls hit to left field. There are fewer right-handed hitters in the league; that’s No. 1. No. 2, his arm plays better in left field than it does in right field, and I think there will be an upgrade defensively in left field.”
Mets’ Juan Soto Shouldn’t Care Where He Plays
Regardless of where Soto plays out in the outfield, even though he’s not the best defensive player out there, MLB Network Radio host Ryan Spilborghs believes all that should matter is that the Mets have Soto’s bat in the lineup.
“I don’t know that left field is that much easier for Juan Soto,” Spilborghs said in a Feb. 10 video posted by MLB Network Radio. “I mean it goes back to when he first came up to the big leagues with the Washington Nationals for Soto. He’s in left because Bryce Harper was in right.
“Right field at Citi Field is a little bit nuanced just because of all the different corners and cuts that they have. So moving him to left field, should that help him out a little bit? Possibly. I don’t know if this makes it easier for Juan Soto, but I just want him for his bat. I care about his bat.”
Soto finished the 2025 season batting .263 with 152 hits, 43 home runs, 105 RBIs, and 120 runs scored across 160 games, per StatMuse. The performance earned another Silver Slugger award, the sixth of his career.
Carlos Mendoza Talks Juan Soto Switching to Left Field
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza outlined the thought process behind bringing up the idea to Soto about making the switch to left field.
“Early in the offseason we didn’t know how rosters for the WBC were going to shake out,” Mendoza said on Feb. 10 (h/t New York Post). “Once we started [getting] closer to the teams announcing their rosters … the left field conversation came up and he took me down the road of when he first came up [playing left].
“He also mentioned that with the Yankees, they had him playing left field when they were playing the Red Sox at Fenway Park. He was very honest and very genuine about it, so that is how I decided.”
Soto has plenty of experience in left field, most recently playing there regularly for the San Diego Padres in 2023. Earlier in his career, he opened as the Nationals‘ starting left fielder during his first two MLB seasons.
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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