Juan Soto's got a long way to go.
But in the early days of his 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, the superstar left-handed slugger hasn't lived up to his billing.
Soto is batting just .224 through 55 games with eight home runs. His slugging percentage is a paltry .393.
Through Wednesday, when the Mets lost 9-4 to the White Sox, Soto is hitless in his last four games (0-for-14).
And one new-age stat adds to the reason for concern.
Last season, Soto had an average bat speed of 75.4 miles per hour, according to MLB. This season, it's down to 73.3 miles per hour on average.
In a statistic that doesn't necessarily see a lot of fluctuation, that's a huge drop.
What does it mean? Purely from a speculation standpoint, it could mean an injury or a change in approach.
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It's hard to believe at this point that it's statistical noise, although it'll be interesting to see where the number is at the end of a season.
To be fair to Soto, not every one of baseball's best hitters is at the top end of this list. Some better players, especially good contact guys, actually have slower average bat speeds.
But the concerning part here is that Soto's numbers have declined in line with this physical value also dropping.
The Mets are sure hoping Soto can turn it around. Maybe he just has to start swinging a little harder again.
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