3 Reasons Why World Series Is Back in Play for Juan Soto and the Mets

Lest anyone forget how much can change throughout MLB's seemingly endless regular season, Juan Soto and the New York Mets would like everyone's attention.

In April and May, Soto looked and even sounded determined to be the worst $765 million investment Steve Cohen ever made. He just wasn't hitting, and at one point, he was openly lamenting not having Aaron Judge to protect him.

The Mets were mercifully faring better in those days, but then came what linguistics experts call "a switcheroo." They were an MLB-best 45-24 through June 12. Then they lost more games than all but two teams through August 15.

Cut to now, though, and the Mets are suddenly back like John Wick. Even if they're "only" 11-7 in their last 18 games, they have won three straight series against fellow playoff contenders and hold a 4.0-game lead for the NL's third wild card.

Even better, there are at least three good reasons to buy them as legitimate World Series contenders.

Juan Soto Is Also Back, and He's Brought the Mets Offense with Him

To be fair, it's not like Soto was bad earlier in 2025.

Even if his .745 OPS through the Mets' first 56 games marked a new career low, he was still an above-average hitter by way of a 112 wRC+. The only reason anyone was ragging on him was because of his contract, which...OK, maybe we all had a gripe.

Whatever the case, apparently, all Soto needed was a trip to the Rocky Mountains. He got hot at Coors Field between May 30 and June 1, and he has since claimed his rightful place as the best hitter in the National League:

• .431 OBP: 1st
• .610 SLG: 1st
• 1.041 OPS: 1st
• 186 wRC+: 1st
• 29 HR: 2nd
• 66 RBI: 3rd
• 73 R: 1st
• 4.3 fWAR: 1st

With a .399 OBP and 37 home runs overall, all he needed to force himself into the NL MVP conversation was a signature game. He got one this week when he led the Mets to a 10-8 victory in Detroit with a grand slam and a two-run triple.

It took a minute for the rest of the Mets' offense to catch up, but that mission has been thoroughly accomplished in the last few weeks.

Since August 1, the Mets lead all of MLB in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Seven of their regulars—including Francisco Lindor at 171 and Pete Alonso at 165—have a wRC+ of at least 130 in this span.

This is what the Mets were meant to be on offense. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers seemed to have a better lineup at the outset, and they have mostly been squandering that goodwill as the Mets have finally come around to earn theirs.

It's Rookies to the Rescue on the Mound

The Mets have actually had a problem lately, and it concerns how their pitchers tend to give up runs just as fast as their hitters can score them.

Their ERA for the second half is 4.72, way up from 3.58 in the first half. Veteran starters like Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson have all been getting knocked around, and you don't want to get Mets fans started on how bad Ryan Helsley has been since he joined the bullpen at the deadline.

And yet, the following is said with the utmost seriousness: Holy schnikes, are the new guys good.

The Mets have already promoted Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat is set to make his MLB debut on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds. These guys are the club's No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 prospects for MLB Pipeline, and they are already proving the hype was actually understated.

In four starts, McLean has faced 95 batters and fanned 28 of them, otherwise permitting just 13 hits, seven walks and four earned runs. The explosive movement on his pitches calls to mind a young Max Scherzer, and he throws from such an extreme sideways angle that the ball might as well be coming in from third base.

Tong has only made one start, but it's all he needed to show how he still has 21 more strikeouts than any other pitcher in the minors. He allowed one earned run in 5.0 innings, striking out six and walking none.

The Tim Lincecum comparisons are unavoidable with Tong. His delivery is almost comically over the top, and he complements an explosive fastball with a 12-to-6 curveball that is lab-grown to turn legs into jelly.

Sproat's development has been less than linear. Even this year, he had a 5.95 ERA through his first 15 starts for Triple-A Syracuse.

But since then? Try a 2.44 ERA over 11 starts, with 70 strikeouts against 34 hits and 21 walks in 59.0 innings. He's been averaging 97.1 mph on the fastball, with his sweeper, curveball and changeup limiting hitters to five hits in 88 at-bats.

Can these three alone put the entire Mets pitching staff on their backs? That is asking a lot. But then again, the Mets also don't need to ask that much.

Senga, Manaea and Peterson are too good to be as bad (i.e., combined 6.88 ERA) as they have been since August 1, while Senga's plunge seems like little more than regression after he opened the year with a 1.47 ERA through 13 starts.

Even if Helsley can't find his control in time to get his ERA down from 11.45, the Mets have a trump card they might play to help out Edwin Díaz, Tyler Rogers, Brooks Raley and Gregory Soto in the bullpen. With a career-high (by far) 147 innings on his arm, a shift back to relief work should be in the deck for Clay Holmes.

The Competition Has Stagnated

Meanwhile, here's how things are going for the other projected playoff teams in the National League:

• Milwaukee Brewers (86-55): 8-11 since August 17, with recent injuries to Trevor Megill, Shelby Miller and Grant Anderson.
• Philadelphia Phillies (81-59): 12-10 since August 12, lost Zack Wheeler for the year after surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome.
• Chicago Cubs (80-60): 21-21 since July 20, with huge offensive downturn since the All-Star break.
• Los Angeles Dodgers (78-62): 22-30 since July 4, with 12 players still on the injured list.
• San Diego Padres (76-64): 7-12 since August 15, with recent season-ending injuries to Xander Bogaerts and Jason Adam.

Thus is the picture in the National League increasingly of a race that any team can win, and the Mets are gaining in it.

If there is an obvious obstacle between them and the World Series, it's their 30-38 record away from Citi Field. Only three teams have ever made it to the Fall Classic after posting a road record that bad, and the expanded playoff format will be unforgiving if the Mets get in via the third wild card. It wouldn't guarantee them home-field advantage in any round of the playoffs.

Yet the Mets offense, at least, has been the best of any NL team on the road since it started clicking last month. They could thus hope to make like the 2023 Texas Rangers, who actually did more offensive damage away from Globe Life Field. They hit 18 of their 30 postseason home runs on the road, ultimately going 11-0 in those games.

In that case, the Mets would merely need enough from their pitchers to get the two extra wins they couldn't get last October, when they fell to the Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. That is at least doable, and it could even be laughable if the rookies continue to tease real greatness.

If the Mets can make it to the World Series and win it, their triumph would simultaneously be overdue by 39 years and right on time.

After all, Cohen did say when he bought the team in 2020 that he hoped to win a championship within five years.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.