Every Mets fan has heard the same refrain this offseason: “Soto in right field? Get ready for chaos.” The worry isn’t irrational. Defensive metrics have not been kind to Soto, and fans have been conditioned—rightly or wrongly—to expect adventures when the ball heads his way.
But before we get to Juan Soto specifically, it’s worth settling a foundational baseball misunderstanding that fuels much of the panic. Many fans believe left field is the tougher defensive position because most hitters are right-handed and righties pull the ball to left. On volume alone, that’s true. But difficulty isn’t measured by quantity. It’s measured by the quality of plays demanded.
Once you zoom in on ball-flight physics, range expectations, field geometry, and throw-value math, a different truth emerges. Right field is the more demanding defensive position. Full stop. And understanding why helps us understand the actual challenge facing Soto—and what the Mets can realistically do about it.
The Slice Problem: Why Opposite-Field Contact Is Harder to Defend
A right-handed hitter’s pulled fly ball to left field carries hook spin. And here’s the crucial part: a hook curves toward the left fielder. The ball essentially helps the defender by bending back into their path.
Opposite-field contact is the opposite story. A right-handed hitter’s fly ball to right field carries slice spin—the ball veers away from the right fielder late. These balls:
Start on one trajectory and bend unpredictably into the foul line or deep alley
Require sharper angles and faster first steps
Force the right fielder to cover more ground, often into the biggest section of the ballpark
Statcast data backs it up: a far higher percentage of the league’s toughest outfield plays occur in right field and right-center, not left. So even though left field gets more balls, right field gets the hard ones.
More Real Estate, More Responsibility
The majority of MLB parks share a common design quirk: the deepest, widest alley tends to be in right-center, not left-center. For a right fielder, this creates a huge zone of responsibility—far more than their counterpart in left.
Add in slice trajectory and you get plays that are simply not part of a left fielder’s regular life. What left fielders get are straightforward grounders, high-arcing hooks, and predictable liners. What right fielders get is often geometry, physics, and sprint speed combining into one stressful moment.
This is why teams routinely assign the more athletic player to right field. And why defensive metrics show larger performance variance in RF than LF—the position magnifies skill gaps.
The Throwing Reality: RF Makes the Highest-Leverage Throws
Right fielders make:
The longest throw on the diamond (to third)
The second-longest high-value throw (to home)
Left field simply does not have equivalent leverage-throw responsibilities. Because of that alone, MLB teams sort outfielders accordingly:
Right field: strong arms, better athletes, premium defenders
Left field: bat-first players, minimized defensive exposure
This is why it’s normal to see superstars—Judge, Betts, Acuña, Tatis—anchoring right field. It’s not just an arm thing; it’s an everything thing.
So What Does This Mean for Juan Soto?
Here’s the good news.
Juan Soto’s problem is not his arm. His arm strength is actually above-average and perfectly suited for right. His issue has always been the first 10 steps: reads, routes, and how he handles the slice. That’s coachable. And now that he’s in a system with far better defensive infrastructure than he’s ever experienced, the Mets have a real chance to upgrade his performance.
In other words, the Mets aren’t asking Soto to play catcher. They’re asking him to play a position that demands competence, not brilliance, and one where coaching and positioning can dramatically narrow the gap.
12 comments:
I believe the Mets realize the validity of this data. That's why they tried to find elite defenders for center, i.e. Siri. They knew the center fielder needed to cover right center field to make up for Soto's weaknesses
Agree. I though it was interesting to decompose the reasons RF is the more difficult position. Late swings with spin = tougher position. Also clarifies why Nimmo played so little CF last year even though he was a starter for several seasons. His legs were compromised. Taylor has more value that one would consider.
Remember that when they signed Sterling Marte, they put him in Wright field because he was the best defender of the corner outfielders.
RVH, I can’t enjoy yiur article now, but I’ll read it later and comment
Soto should improve defensively, or switch to LF.
But Taylor’s bat is as compromised asNimmo’s legs.
True but Taylor is a placeholder. The position belongs to Benge
Wouldn’t the left fielder have the same troubles against lefties? Is there a significantly higher percentage of righty hitters than lefty hitters?
Two comments. @TexasGus; currently most LH batters appear to prefer down and in pitches which when hit rarely lead to spin shots to left. And the out pitch to them is often up and in or a back foot slider, neither of which is typically hit with slice spin to right. In principle you are right as a matter of physics, but in practice, the game just doesn't turn out to be played that way. Second comment: ironic isn't it (at least for people my age) that when we grew up playing baseball or softball in the schoolyard, the worst and slowest defender on the team was put in right field. In schoolyard softball that was often because of the layout of the field. Almost always a rectangle to accommodate lots of activities -- in my school, PS 209 in Bklyn, we had handball courts in center and basketball courts down the line in left, and Coney Island avenue limiting how far the fence in right could be!
Thank you for that Jules, makes sense. I grew up near your school on Kings Highway and West 4th. I don’t know what you know about that area, but I can’t recognize it any more. So much change…
I was that kid who used to get stuck in RD. Worked my way to 1B b/c I was tall & could stretch & reach :)
All very true - right field demands a strong outfielder. I believe Soto has the arm and I also believe that a very young Juan Soto has the time and the ability to learn to play right field better. Much like he put a big focus on the stolen base last year, if he puts his mind to defense (which the front office has prioritized), he can rise to the occasion.
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