“Great work life balance”; “27 going on 47” - Fans roast Juan Soto’s chill birthday vibes with friends and family after early playoff exit

Having signed the largest ever contract in big league history last offseason to join the New York Mets, Juan Soto enjoyed a solid first year in Queens, finishing with a .263 batting average, along with 43 home runs and 103 RBIs.

Despite his best efforts, though, the Mets suffered a stunning collapse late in the regular season, which eventually culiminated in them missing out on the playoffs althogether.

Naturally, this left players and fans frustrated and disappointed. Looking at Juan Soto's most recent social media post, however, it appears the Dominican has already put that disappointment behind him.

On Saturday, October 25, Soto took to Instagram to post a video, as he celebrated his 27th birthday surrounded by friends and family. Popular baseball content page "Jomboy Media" later shared the clip to X.

"Juan Soto turned 27 at midnight and he’s celebrating with friends" the post read

Reacting, several fans left comments roasting Juan Soto for his team's shocking playoff choke.

"Great work life balance to be able to enjoy your birthday in October." a fan wrote

"27 going on 47...he mos def got one of those Dominican birth certificates 🤣" another fan commented

"So nice of the Mets to let Juan have off for his birthday every year 😁 Good people still exist" another fan replied

"Everyone : Soto please lead the Mets to the playoffs 🤞🏼 Soto:" another fan responded

"27 is an important age. It’s good he missed the playoffs to be able to celebrate this" another fan shared

"He has the time he isn't in the playoffs" another fan posted

"I can do better" - Juan Soto takes constructive approach to criticism from 2025 season

Even though Juan Soto was arguably one of the best hitters in the majors last season, there was plenty of criticism surrounding the Dominican. A lot of which can also be attributed to the scarcely believable way the Mets ended up missing out on the postseason.

Speaking to insider Jon Heyman in late August, Soto adressed said criticism. Instead of disagreeing with his critics, the 27-year-old opted to take on their feedback in a constructive way.

"I’m with them. I feel like I’m capable to do more stuff. It’s not bad. But I think I can do better." Soto said

New York Mets v Miami Marlins - Source: Getty

Though things did not go to plan this season, fans will be hoping Soto can hit the ground running in 2026 and make good on his promise of continuing to hone his craft day in, day out.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Raghav Mehta