DETROIT — Juan Soto’s season long ago moved beyond the adaptation to a new team stage and has shot lately into the stratosphere.
National League MVP? There is still likely a gap for Soto to close on that front against players such as Shohei Ohtani, Trea Turner and Pete Crow-Armstrong, but that pedestal isn’t out of the question for the Mets outfielder with 23 games remaining in the regular season.
His chances of becoming the first player in franchise history to hit 40 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season appear greater. It’s a milestone that intrigues Soto, who has 37 homers and 27 stolen bases after recording one of each in Tuesday’s 12-5 drubbing of the Tigers.
The closest Mets approach to 40/30 was Darryl Strawberry’s 39 homers and 36 stolen bases in 1987. That was in an era pitchers weren’t restricted in the number of pickoffs they could attempt during an at-bat.