Mets’ Juan Soto predicted to lead MLB in brand new stat originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Juan Soto is believed to have one of the best batting eyes in baseball.

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That could result in him leading MLB in a brand new statistic for the 2026 season.

As you’re likely aware, there’s a strike-zone challenge system coming to the majors for the new campaign. Which means that there will be statistics on who challenges the most and least successfully.

MLB.com’s Jared Greenspan surveyed players on who they think will be the best hitter at challenging calls, and Soto was the resounding winner.

He got 33 votes in the survey. The next closest was Aaron Judge with nine.

“Known for having one of the best eyes in the game, Soto was the overwhelming winner here: He received a vote from at least one player on 27 of the 29 opposing teams,” Greenspan writes. “That’s not surprising, because Soto commands the strike zone like few others: His 15.9% chase rate in 2025 ranked as the lowest in the Majors among qualified hitters, and he set a new single-season Mets franchise record with 127 walks.”

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There could only be one mechanical thing that potentially works against Soto here, and that’s his vision itself.

If home plate umpires are more likely to assume a pitch is a ball because Soto takes it, then there could be less for him to challenge.

But it does seem like from a percentage perspective, he’ll get a good amount of his challenges right, even if the overall quantity doesn’t get a chance to match the quality.

Regardless, it’s fun to think about this stat. It may take a while for it to normalize and paint the full picture. But it’s a brand new thing to keep track of, which is really cool.

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