New York Mets Hitters Of The Month, June 2026: Playing For Second Behind Juan Soto

Choosing the New York Mets’ best hitters each month isn’t as challenging as you might think. You start with No. 22 and then go from there. Usually, second and third are obvious, too.

That was the case with June superlatives. There were two clear runner-up choices behind the guy who is now 3-for-3 this season in topping the monthly rankings. The fact Nos. 2 and 3 put up good numbers as well was a nice change.

But even with those three guys hitting, the Mets stayed near the bottom of the league in runs per game last month. They averaged 3.85 in June, less than their season average of 3.97, which is 29^th among the 30 clubs. They scored three runs or fewer in 15 of 27 contests.

Which means that, as per usual, it was an easy call on determining the Mets’ Hitters of the Month for June.

Ranking New York Mets’ Best Hitters In June

3. OF A.J. Ewing

The 21-year-old rookie made big strides at the plate during his first first full month in the majors. Playing every day, he posted a nifty .300/.379/.478 slash line (141 wRC+) with three home runs. He was among the club leaders with a 39.4 percent hard-hit rate.

Something else that stood out was how much he cut down on his strikeouts: a 19.4 percent K rate in June, 13 points lower than his figure for May when was getting accustomed to The Show. And, he still walked a lot, at 10.7 percent.

Ewing’s elite speed continued to play, as well. He led the club with four stolen bases (the Mets had nine all month). The only negative was that he was caught three times, making his success rate a poor 57.1 percent. But that’s a minor quibble about a kid who’s playing like he wants to be a foundational piece. Ewing will have a whole low-pressure second half to get better.

2. 3B Bo Bichette

Bichette corrected course with a sparkling June -- a 141 wRC+, five home runs and a 38.1 hard-hit rate. He raised his batting average 32 points by hitting .307 for the month.

But he still wasn’t the Bo Bichette who mashed in Toronto. His walk and strikeout rates were out of whack last month -- a minuscule 2.6 walk rate compared with an well-above-average 23.9 percent K rate. That’s just not like a player with his bat-to-ball skills.

But then, those skills have looked diminished in 2026. He’s having a tough time with fastballs, batting .224 on four-seamers and .262 on sinkers overall. Last year with the Blue Jays, he was at .276 against four-seamers and .331 against sinkers, per Baseball Savant. He has been chasing a lot of hard stuff way out of the zone. Will the swing decisions improve as the games become less and less meaningful?

1. OF Juan Soto

Soto has been the anti-Bichette this year, and he took it to the extreme in June. His walk-to-strikeout ratio was inverted: 20.0 percent walk rate, 8.6 percent strikeout rate. He knows teams won’t throw him a strike when it matters, but he refuses to expand his zone, even though he could drive pitches that are just off the plate.

To put his selectiveness into sharper focus, he has walked 10 times in 28 plate appearances with runners in scoring position and two outs this season. Similarly, he was walked 14 times in 56 high-leverage PAs. Is leaving it up to the next guy the best strategy with this offense? Probably not, but Soto has been doing it all his career and he’s not about to change.

Of course, when he does swing the bat, he tends to produce. His overall June numbers were very, very good: a 160 wRC+, four home runs, nine extra-base hits, a .500 slugging percentage, a 93.4 mph average exit velocity, a 37.3 percent hard-hit rate. The Mets will take that, even if Soto takes too many pitches for some people’s liking.