Soto made his debut in 2019 as a member of the Tigers and has pitched for Detroit, Philadelphia, and Baltimore before becoming a Met for the second half of this season. Over his pre-Mets career, Soto put up 2.1 bWAR and has consistently been at or above league average by ERA+, with his 2021 Tigers campaign being his career best thus far. Before coming to the Mets, Soto was having a good (not great) year in Baltimore, appearing in 45 games and putting up a 3.33 FIP in a set-up/high leverage role. His 36.1 IP, 3.96 ERA, .5 HR/9, 4.5 BB/9, 10.9 K/9 line was a clear improvement over what the Mets were getting out of their ‘pen, and with a track record of success, the move looked like a solid one.
Over his first month plus with the Mets, Soto only gave up two earned runs but took the loss in three games between late July and September 1. His two earned runs came in a loss to the Braves, and then Soto took the loss in two games when he let inherited runners score against him when facing the Padres and Marlins. In a season with a razor-thin margin of error, those games quite literally kept the Mets out of the playoffs. That is not to put the collapse on Soto’s shoulders by any means, but just to illustrate how close the Mets came this season to a postseason berth.
September saw Soto not on the hook for as many games, but saw a lesser performance overall, giving up ten earned runs in 11 innings, including a particularly rough September 10th performance against the Phillies where he hit two batters and gave up four runs.
Walks had been Soto’s bugaboo for most of his career, but with the Mets his walk rate was half of what it was in Baltimore, with Soto only issuing five walks across 24 innings. Overall, Soto pitched to a line of 24.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, .8 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9, 9.8 K/9 with the Mets, and while he didn’t fall on his face, he did not stabilize the bullpen in the way the Mets had hoped he may.
While Soto doesn’t have extreme splits, he’s much better against lefties, and so with Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter as the expected lefties out of the bullpen this season, there’s likely not a spot for Soto in the 2025 bullpen.