Seeing Juan Soto at the plate for the New York Mets minus the “Soto Shuffle” is like walking into a ballpark and finding out the organ is broken. It just doesnât feel right.
For years, the shuffle has been part of Soto’s entire persona â a squat, a hip wiggle, a foot sweep, a staredown â a whole mood that lets pitchers know heâs not just stepping into the box, he’s owning it. Yet, a month into his first season with the Mets, it’s been suspiciously absent.
“It’s going to come out one day,” Soto tells Will Sammon of The Athletic, grinning before Monday’s game. “It just depends â I just gotta feel it.”
The Shuffle: Gone, But Not Forgotten
Fans recently caught a glimpse of a semi-shuffle â a tug at the groin, a spread stance, an icy stare â during an at-bat against Washingtonâs Mitchell Parker. But it was a ghost of what made Soto a sensation. No full-blown hip action. No big moment. Nothing worthy of the Soto-branded luggage logo, as seen in the “true” shuffle.
Soto admits the ritual isnât a show he puts on every plate appearance. Itâs a natural thing, tied to his rhythm, to his confidence, and it first started in the minors. Still, through 29 games with New York, it’s been mostly radio silence. A hint against Josh Hader on Opening Day, maybe, but not the real thing.
âIt takes a lot,â Soto says to Sammon, again flashing that cagey smile when pressed about what it would take for the shuffle to return.
Even without it, Soto has been solid, if not spectacular. Heâs rocking a .788 OPS with three homers across 127 plate appearances. No Citi Field home runs yet. His walk rate remains elite, but the power hasn’t fully popped â and let’s be real, thatâs what everyoneâs waiting for.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza doesnât seem worried. After a 19-5 beatdown of the Cubs where Soto collected two more hits, Mendoza said, âWhen he wasnât getting results, he was still hitting the ball hard, right at people. So it was good to see him go the other way. Heâs a great hitter.â
Mets co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes backs that up, calling Soto âextremely even-keeledâ and praising his daily approach. “He knows what he wants,” Barnes says. “Heâs a professional hitter. He has his routine. He sticks to his routine every single day.”
Routine is key. Maybe the shuffle isn’t gone â maybe it’s just waiting for the right moment, the right swing, the right spark. Soto promises, “Itâs going to come. You will see it.”
Whenever it does, expect Citi Field to explode. Superman doesnât leave the cape in the closet forever.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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