Juan Soto crushed his first home run as a New York Met on Friday night, sending a solo shot deep into the Houston night off Astros pitcher Hunter Brown in the third inning to extend the Mets’ lead to 3-0.
The blast was no cheap shot. Soto connected on a 1-2 fastball and absolutely hammered it – the ball left his bat at 107.3 mph and traveled about 390 feet. According to Statcast, it would’ve been a home run in every single MLB park.
LAUNCHED. pic.twitter.com/6U20dpuazW
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 29, 2025
This is exactly what the Mets were hoping for when they made Soto the richest player in baseball history this winter.
The 26-year-old superstar signed a massive 15-year, $765 million contract to bring his talents to Queens. And with good reason – he came into the game with a career .285/.421/.532 slash line (160 OPS+), 201 home runs, and an impressive 36.4 Wins Above Replacement according to Baseball Reference.
Those numbers put him on a clear Hall of Fame trajectory.
Soto had already collected his first hit as a Met on Opening Day, smacking a single up the middle in his very first at-bat with the team. That game ended on a sour note though, with Soto striking out against Astros closer Josh Hader for the final out.
“I was expecting to win the game,” a disappointed Soto told reporters afterward. “It’s not how we wanted it.”
The Mets jumped out to an early lead Friday night before Soto’s homer. They grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the second inning when Mark Vientos doubled home Brandon Nimmo, then scored himself on Jesse Winker’s single.
Soto’s third-inning blast gave them some breathing room as they looked to even the series.
