Juan Soto’s candidacy for MVP is a prize for consistency

After a terrible start to the campaign and not being invited to the All-Star Game, the Dominican ended up as a finalist for the MLB’s most important award.

For the third time in his career, Juan Soto is a finalist for the award Most Valuable Player. The gardener of the New York Mets He achieved recognition in his first year with the team, after signing the largest contract in the history of professional sports. In simple terms, it’s proof that you had a great year in the Major Leagues.

Sotolike every season since he arrived MLBhas shown that he is one of the best players the league currently has. However, 2025 was a challenging year for the Dominican, who was probably under the microscope more than ever in his career.

The expectations that accompany a 15-year, $765 million contract are overwhelming, and even more so when criticism rains down on you from the moment the signing is announced.

Yes “it’s not worth that money“, yes “there are other much better players“, yes “He has the obligation to take the Mets to the World Series” either “that contract will get oldl”, all the public doubts surrounding the agreement fell on Soto from the moment he signed his signature. In fact, not having been chosen to go to All-Star Game fueled the narrative of many that the Mets They had made a mistake when hiring Soto.

The reality is that, no matter how much we try to hide it, Soto He had a long period in which he seemed to feel the weight of that criticism. His body language during the first month and a half of the campaign, when he experienced one of the worst offensive stretches of his career, reflected the frustration of the moment. However, with the arrival of June came the change, and with it, the possibility of being a finalist in the MVP of the National League.

The fact that Soto is even mentioned as a candidate, although everything indicates that Shohei Ohtani will take the award, it is in itself a prize for consistency. When we talk about Sotowe are talking about one of the best bats of the Major Leagueseven in seasons that start with doubts. That is the main reason why today it competes among the best.

From a statistical point of view, finishing batting .263 with an OPS of .921, his worst marks since the 2022 season, when he was traded to the San Diego Padresprobably not something typical of him. However, his 43 home runs and, to the surprise of many, the league’s stolen base lead National League (38), show that the Dominican knew how to reinvent himself to be productive in multiple ways. In MLBnothing is given away.

As we mentioned, the chances that Soto win the award are minimal, but beyond the result, his presence among the finalists confirms that he continues to produce at the level of a superstar, thanks to his consistency year after year.