Mets' Hitting Coach Wanted Juan Soto More Aggressive, Pushed for Move to Leadoff Spot

The New York Mets moved on from hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner this offseason after failing to reach the postseason despite having the second-largest payroll in the sport. One player who generally lived up to expectations, however, was Juan Soto.

But interestingly, Chavez spoke with Foul Territory on Thursday about wanting superstar Juan Soto to be a bit more aggressive while he was struggling earlier in the season.

"There were some times where I talked to [manager Carlos Mendoza] about if we could get him to swing maybe 0-0 or even at some pitches he could do damage on early in counts—but Juan is a precision hitter, I wouldn't get him out of his comfort zone at all," he said.

He also said he believes in the idea of moving Soto up in the batting order to the leadoff spot.

"Juan is so good at getting on-base," he said. "There are times where things are going and you're in the middle of the lineup. Like Pete Alonso, we know Pete is going to chase, Pete is going to do damage. Juan can drive in 140 runs, but instead of doing that where you're telling him to get out of his comfort zone, slide him into the leadoff spot. He steals bases, he gets on base at a 40 percent clip, don't have him get out of his comfort zone of what he likes to do, but you could be just as dynamic out of the leadoff spot if you look at what Shohei [Ohtani] has done. Without changing the player too much, just change where he hits in the battling lineup."

The Mets had a number of issues during the 2025 season, but Soto wasn't one of them, hitting .263 with 43 homers, 105 RBI, 120 runs, 38 stolen bases and a .921 OPS. That doesn't mean that moving him up in the order and perhaps bumping back Francisco Lindor to No. 2 would necessarily be a bad thing, but the Mets probably have bigger fish to fry heading into 2026.