Soto ‘100%’ believes Mets make playoffs despite ongoing funk

New York Mets superstar Juan Soto isn’t losing any faith despite his team’s ongoing tailspin.

The Mets suffered another critical loss Thursday, blowing an early lead in a 9-3 defeat to the Washington Nationals. Still, Soto sees no reason for panic when it comes to New York’s playoff hopes, which are suddenly hanging by a thread.

“100%,” Soto told reporters when asked if he thinks the Mets are still a playoff team, per SNY. “Since day one, we believe in each other and we think we can make it to the playoffs.”

Thursday’s loss trimmed the Mets’ hold on the final NL wild-card spot to just a half-game over the idle Cincinnati Reds. New York held a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL East on July 27. Since that date, the team has gone 5-16 and lost six of seven series during that span.

Soto, who signed a historic $765-million contract with the Mets this past offseason, has been enduring his own cold stretch. He’s hitting .167/.344/.417 over the last week, and went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts Thursday.

With just over five weeks left in the season, the pressure is mounting on the Mets to maintain their hold on a playoff spot. The 26-year-old recognizes the urgency, while also trying to keep things calm as the club tries to work out of this funk.

“I mean, it ain’t late but it ain’t early, either,” Soto said. “We have to win today. We don’t have to be focused on what is gonna happen in the future, or what happened in the past. We gotta focus on what we can do today.”

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