New York Mets boss issues stern Juan Soto response as star stops swinging

Big-money free agent signing Juan Soto has found himself ensnared in the headlines in recent days, particularly by his poor attitude in the clubhouse.

The 26-year-old New York Mets star was greeted by his old fans of the crosstown New York Yankees with their backs to him . He was then accused of not running out ground balls before rumors swirled that he was antagonizing the locker room by taking a private jet with his family instead of traveling with the team .

Before the team's 2-0 loss on Tuesday to the Boston Red Sox , in which Soto went 1-3 with a strikeout, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza defended his beleaguered star. "He's human. He's 26, man," Mendoza told a pool of reporters "He's going to be fine. He's Juan Soto."

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Against the Red Sox on Wednesday, Soto seemingly refused to swing the bat through his first three at-bats. He struck out each time, rare for a player lauded for his plate discipline.

Soto isn't quite performing up to his lofty 15-year, $765 million contract, but the young outfielder hasn't been a total bust: his .247/.379/.437 (.815 OPS) slash line and 1.5 bWAR both rank amongst the top players on the team.

He's perked up in the month of May, hitting to the tune of a .258, .397, .532, (.930 OPS) line.

"I think he's comfortable, but everything is new -- not only a new team, but just the new contract, the expectations," Mendoza continued.

"He's always been on winning teams and won a World Series (Soto led the Yankees to the World Series a season ago).

But this is new territory for him. That's our job as an organization to continue to help him."

The Yankees took two out of three from the slumping Mets to close the gap between the two New York outfits in the standings. Throughout the series, Soto was described as "glum" in the locker room.

A report from NJ. com painted a grimmer picture, reading: "The only time Soto seemed happy this weekend was while he interacted with Judge, manager Aaron Boone and second baseman Jazz Chisholm during batting practices."

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Veteran Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo was quick to defend his new teammate. "E ven though it’s still New York, it’s a new team, it’s a new franchise, new fanbase — everything,” he said.

“He has to do everything a little bit differently. It’s not exactly the same as it was there. He’s settling into it, and honestly, he’s human. For where we’re at, he’s still doing great."