For the first time since May 30, 2021, Juan Soto is batting leadoff.
The New York Mets face the Colorado Rockies on Monday at Coors Field in Denver, Colo., and manager Carlos Mendoza put Soto at the top of the order for the first time in nearly five years.
Right before the game, Mendoza revealed his reasoning for the switch.
Carlos Mendoza talks about the decision to bat Juan Soto leadoff today:
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026
"It's something I've been thinking about the past few days. Just got to the point to where watching how other teams deploy their bullpens, it's forcing us to make decisions a lot earlier in games" pic.twitter.com/YnxaJqZzGD
Mendoza also said he is trying to create “easy traffic” while trying to get Soto “as many at-bats as possible,” according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
This is just the third time in his entire career that Soto is batting leadoff, with the first coming in 2018 and both previous times coming as a member of the Washington Nationals.
Soto has played just 19 games entering Monday as he dealt with an early injury, and the Mets superstar is hitting .314 with 3 home runs and a .915 OPS.
The Mets entered Monday with the worst record in baseball (12-22), although the team made it clear that they are staying with Mendoza as the manager for the time being.
Now, Mendoza is rolling the dice and putting Soto in the leadoff spot, and only time will tell if it works out or not.
