Position: OF/DH, B/T: R/R
Age: 31 (02/25/1992)
2023 Traditional Stats: 580 PA, .250/.341/.512/.853, 126 H, 36 HR, 75 RBI
2023 Advanced Stats: 126 wRC+, 24.3% K%, 11.4% BB%, .272 BABiP, .376 xwOBA, 1.9 fWAR, 1.8 bWAR
After an injury-plagued 2022 season, Jorge Soler put together his best year since 2019. He made his first All-Star Game, blasting 36 homers and posting a strong .853 OPS over 580 plate appearances. Soler was the Marlins’ main source of power as they reached the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2003.
Soler has always been prone to high strikeout rates, but he cut that number down from 29.4% to 24.3% in 2023, and he drew walks at an 11.4% clip, the highest for any full season he’s played. Soler’s hard-hit rate jumped from 43.9% to 48%, his fly ball rate soared to a career-high 31.6%, and his ground-ball rate dropped to a career-low 36.2%. The right-handed slugger ranked in at least the 91st percentile in xwOBA (.376), xwOBAcon (.476), and xSLG (.531).
Soler’s power months came in May and August – slugging 12 homers and driving in 25 runs in May, while he crushed ten homers in 23 games in August. He may have eclipsed the 40-home run mark had he not missed time due to a right oblique strain in September. Soler torched left-handed pitching, batting .377/.393/.688 with 14 home runs in 135 plate appearances against southpaws.
He also excelled in high-leverage situations, recording a 1.048 OPS in 107 plate appearances, and he had a 1.133 OPS in late-and-close scenarios. Soler spent most of the year batting in the top two spots in the lineup, though he profiles more as a prototypical middle-of-the-order bat.
From a defensive standpoint, Soler spent most of the season as the Marlins’ designated hitter, playing 103 games as a DH and 32 games in right field. In his fielding appearances, Soler was graded as a below-average defender, registering negative five DRS and negative three OAA.
Soler opted out of the remaining nine million remaining on his contract with the Marlins. Spotrac projects Soler to get a four-year contract worth $55.7 million. That contract would likely make him the fourth-highest-paid position player on the Mets, trailing Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Starling Marte. Soler doesn’t play the field much, but with his big-time power, most teams could use his bat in their lineup.
It’s a bit of a risk to give a DH a long contract, but after the Phillies gave four and five-year deals to Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, it doesn’t seem too farfetched to give a player like Soler a contract of that length. The Mets struggled to get production out of their DH spot, getting just a .715 OPS from that position, and they could use an extra power bat to protect Pete Alonso in the lineup. Soler also has a strong postseason pedigree, owning two World Series rings and winning World Series MVP in 2021. With the future of Daniel Vogelbach and Mark Vientos uncertain, Soler would fit in well as a right-handed bat who mashes left-handed pitching and is a consistent power threat.
The post MMO Free Agent Profile: Jorge Soler, OF/DH first appeared on Metsmerized Online.
