The Mets acquired Soto from the Orioles on Friday in exchange for pitching prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
The veteran left-hander is on the move at the trade deadline for a second consecutive year after being dealt from Philadelphia to Baltimore in 2024. Soto has served as a setup man for the Orioles this season with one save and 18 holds, and he has a 3.96 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 44:18 K:BB over 36.1 innings. He should fill a similar role in Queens in front of closer Edwin Diaz.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Picks up first save
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Soto struck out two in a clean ninth inning to pick up the save during Thursday's 4-3 win over the Guardians.
The first save opportunity since Felix Bautista (shoulder) hit the injured list went to Soto, and he delivered an impressive inning, sending the Guardians down in order with the help of a pair of strikeouts. It was his first save on the season in his second chance, as he blew his other opportunity June 24 against the Rangers. The left-hander has a 3.96 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 36.1 innings pitched. Soto should be in the mix for saves however long Bautista is sidelined, though the trade deadline could further shake up Baltimore's high-leverage mix.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Working as left-handed specialist
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Soto covered a scoreless two-thirds of an inning with no strikeouts in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Rays.
With Baltimore's bullpen essentially at full strength, the Orioles have mostly deployed Soto as a left-handed specialist. Soto has now worked less than one inning in 21 of his 43 outings this season, and he's recorded more than two outs on just one occasion through his first seven appearances in July. Soto has a 3.67 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 40:15 K:BB to go with 18 holds across 34.1 innings, which at least offers him some appeal in fantasy leagues that count holds.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Fans three in scoreless appearance
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Soto struck out three in a scoreless sixth inning during Monday's 7-1 loss to the Rays, allowing one baserunner on a hit batsman.
Soto had a shaky start to June, serving up a home run in his first outing of the month, but he's now rattled off six scoreless appearances in a row since then. The hard-throwing left-hander had a 4.67 ERA for the season as of May 23, but he's improved that mark to a healthier 3.51 to go with a 1.21 WHIP and 31:8 K:BB over 25.2 innings following Monday's effort. Soto has been a key setup man for closer Felix Bautista with 15 holds, the third-highest figure for this category in the American League so far.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Continues to work in setup role
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Soto threw a clean eighth inning Wednesday against the Brewers. He struck out one.
Soto continues to work as a setup man for closer Felix Bautista, picking up his ninth hold of the season Wednesday. Through his first 16.2 innings of the year, Soto owns a 3.78 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 17:7 K:BB. The hard-throwing 30-year-old remains one of Baltimore's top left-handed relievers, but he's without a single save opportunity over 19 appearances on the campaign.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Option as fill-in closer
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Orioles manager Brandon Hyde named Soto as an option to see save chance early in the season on days Felix Bautista (elbow) is unavailable, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.
Bautista will not be allowed to appear in back-to-back games or pitch more than one inning at a time for a while as he comes back from Tommy John surgery, and Hyde said he'll "mix and match" at closer those days. The skipper named Andrew Kittredge (knee) and Seranthony Dominguez in addition to Soto as relievers who could see save opportunities when Bautista is off limits.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Avoids hearing with O's
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Soto agreed to a one-year, $5.35 million contract with the Orioles on Thursday to avoid arbitration, Andy Kostka of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.
After being sent to Baltimore from Philadelphia at the trade deadline, Soto turned in a 5.09 ERA and 1.53 WHIP alongside a 21:7 K:BB over 17.2 innings before covering a scoreless two-thirds of an innings during his lone playoff appearance. His poor performance will net him just a $350,000 raise in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and he appears destined to work in middle relief next season.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Nabs win Thursday
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Soto (3-5) didn't allow a baserunner or a run over two-thirds of an inning, earning the win over the Giants on Thursday.
Seranthony Dominguez allowed the tying run to score in the top of the ninth inning, but Soto got Mark Canha to ground into a double play to keep the game tied at 3-3. In the bottom of the frame, Anthony Santander lifted the Orioles to a 5-3 win with a walk-off home run. Soto's Baltimore tenure started poorly, but he's since allowed just three runs (two earned) over his last 13.2 innings, posting a 17:3 K:BB in that span. Overall, he has a 4.65 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 62:26 K:BB over 50.1 innings between the Orioles and the Phillies.
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Orioles' Gregory Soto: Disaster outing ends in loss
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Soto (2-5) allowed four runs on four hits and a walk while striking out one over one-third of an inning, taking the loss Tuesday versus the Blue Jays.
The Orioles haven't been able to fix Soto, who has allowed eight runs over 1.1 innings across his first three appearances with the team. Even in a mediocre showing with the Phillies earlier in the season, he was rarely this bad. Overall, he's now at a 5.89 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and 45:23 K:BB over 36.2 innings with two saves and eight holds. Given Soto's struggles, he's likely to be limited to low-leverage work and could even be at risk of getting designated for assignment if he can't turn things around quickly.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Converts on second save
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Soto earned the save Wednesday against the Angels, allowing two hits with one strikeout over a scoreless ninth inning.
Soto picked up his first save since Apr. 8, retiring back-to-back batters to close out the game and strand runners on first and third. While Soto shouldn't be expected to see much high-leverage work, it's worth noting that closer Jose Alvarado has pitched during the eighth inning in back-to-back games, leaving save chances to Soto and Jeff Hoffman.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Notches first save
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Soto allowed one hit in a scoreless frame Monday, striking out two and earning a save over the Cardinals.
Soto was in a first-and-third jam with just one out but punched out Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado to close out the 5-3 win in the 10th inning. This came after Jeff Hoffman blew a save chance in the ninth. Soto now has a save and two holds with a 5:0 K:BB through 3.2 shutout frames.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Notches second save
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Soto struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Wednesday to record his second save of the season in a 6-4 win over the Orioles.
Craig Kimbrel got the call in the eighth inning against the heart of Baltimore's order, while Soto faced the 6-7-8 hitters for the O's en route to his first save since mid-May. While the left-hander does appear to be manager Rob Thomson's second choice for save chances, Kimbrel's spot as closer doesn't seem to be in any jeopardy. Since the beginning of June, Soto has posted a 2.70 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 11:5 K:BB through 16.2 innings while collecting six holds and a win in addition to Wednesday's save.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Perfect inning for save
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Soto pitched a perfect inning to earn his first save of the season in Saturday's 7-4 win over the Rockies.
Soto had no trouble protecting a three-run lead, retiring the side on 10 pitches. This was his first outing since Jose Alvarado (elbow) landed on the injured list. Craig Kimbrel got the first save chance Friday, but Soto should also be in the mix in what's likely to be a closer committee for the next few weeks. Soto has a 4.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 21:10 K:BB while logging seven holds over 20 appearances (18 innings) this season.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Should see save chances
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Soto is expected to split closing duties with Craig Kimbrel after Jose Alvarado (elbow) was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
The lefty-throwing Alvarado has been Philadelphia's top reliever and primary closing option this season with five saves, but he's now sidelined by elbow inflammation. Kimbrel has three saves but has struggled at times with a 7.62 ERA in 15 outings, which could allow Soto -- who tallied 30 saves for Detroit in 2022 -- to take a larger share of the closer role.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Officially arrives in camp
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Soto (personal) officially arrived at Phillies camp Wednesday.
Soto was delayed in getting to the Phillies' spring training complex in Florida due to visa issues and had to bow out of an opportunity to pitch for Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. However, he can now work on playing catch-up from this point forward and should serve as a high-leverage bullpen option for the reigning NL champs come Opening Day. The 28-year-old right-hander was acquired from the Tigers in a January trade.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Still resolving visa issues
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Soto remained absent from Phillies camp Tuesday due to ongoing visa issues, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.
It's a pretty safe bet at this point that Soto is not going to be allowed to suit up for Team Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Even if he arrived at the Phillies' complex Wednesday, he'd have less than a week there before having to depart. The 28-year-old reliever was acquired via trade from the Tigers in January.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Yet to arrive in camp
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Soto has yet to arrive at Phillies camp due to visa issues, per Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Soto close to the Phillies' facility in the Dominican Republic and can work out there while the visa situation gets resolved. He was acquired from the Tigers in January and projects to operate in a high-leverage bullpen role this year with Philly. Soto should see some save chances but is unlikely to operate as the team's primary closer as he did for Detroit.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Receives $3.9 million for 2023
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Soto agreed to a one-year, $3.925 million contract with the Phillies on Friday to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
It's the first year of arbitration eligibility for Soto, and he'll receive a significant raise after he posted a 3.34 ERA with 48 saves while working as Detroit's closer for the past two seasons. The 27-year-old was acquired by the Phillies last weekend and is likely to see his save opportunities drop as a member of a closer committee that also features Craig Kimbrel and and Seranthony Dominguez.
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Phillies' Gregory Soto: Bound for Philadelphia
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Soto and Kody Clemens were traded from the Tigers to the Phillies on Saturday in exchange for Nick Maton, Matt Vierling and Donny Sands, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Soto saved 30 games for the Tigers last season, but he's unlikely to get anywhere close to that figure in a more crowded bullpen in Philadelphia. His underlying numbers didn't support his 3.28 ERA and didn't paint him as closer material, with his 4.21 SIERA coming in nearly a run higher. His 22.8 percent strikeout rate was merely average, while his 12.9 percent walk rate was worryingly high. He's likely to be merely one of a handful of late-inning options in Philadelphia this season, with his number of save chances likely to be determined in some part by whether or not his control takes a step forward.
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Tigers' Gregory Soto: Takes another loss in finale
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Soto (2-11) allowed an unearned run while retiring just one batter to take the loss Wednesday against the Mariners. He gave up one hit and two walks.
Soto took the loss for the second night in a row, ending a mostly strong campaign on a sour note. The lefty finished with a whopping 11 losses, though he also had 30 saves in 33 opportunities, to go along with a 3.28 ERA and 60 strikeouts across 60.1 innings. Though he can be volatile at times, Soto should head into 2023 once again closing games for Detroit.
