Yankees legend predicts Juan Soto's Mets transition will mirror Francisco Lindor's

Juan Soto is off to a slow start with the New York Mets, just like it was the case with Francisco Lindor. After 48 games and 174 plate appearances, the richest contract holder in all of baseball has only managed eight homers, hitting .247, swiping six bags along with 20 RBIs in 2025.

Lindor also took his time to come through for the New York Mets after signing a 10-year, $341 million contract extension on March 31, 2021. It was only last season that he truly showed his potential, finishing behind Shohei Ohtani in the NL MVP voting.

On Tuesday, New York Yankees legend CC Sabathia drew a parallel between Soto’s projected transition and Francisco Lindor’s early struggles in New York to defend the outfielder's slow start in Queens. Sabathia noted how stars often face growing pains when arriving in Queens.

"I just feel like the first year for guys who go over to the Mets, they struggle," Sabathia said (1:23 onwards). "I feel like Lindor had the same thing. Until about August of last year, or the second half of last year, is when I feel like he kind of settled in as a Met. I just think it takes a while. I feel like the stars that go to the Mets, it takes them like a year to kind of settle in.

"I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve seen the same thing with Lindor — and now, he’s the king of Queens. So, I think Soto can do the same thing."

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Mets manager defends collective slump of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso

The top of the Mets' lineup comprises bonafide MVP candidates like Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. All three are in a surprising slump, collectively going 2-for-22 without a run scored, an RBI or an extra-base hit in two games.

That has resulted in the team losing four of their last five games, which were against the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. After a second loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza defended the backlash the trio is receiving amid a tough run at the plate.

“They’re human,” Mendoza said. “If those guys go, we’re going to go. … They’re going to go through it at times. And right now, they’re fighting.”

Lindor said that the trio will start clicking at the same time soon.

“At some point, I’m sure we’re going to go back to clicking at the same time,” Lindor said. “Hopefully, sooner rather than later, because if the three of us are clicking at the same time, we can score a lot of runs.”

Mets fans will hope that the situation improves soon and the team returns to winning ways.