Statcast-Powered Insights
We harnessed the power of pybaseball, a Python library tapping into Baseball Savant’s Statcast data, to fuel this analysis. This gave us granular, pitch-by-pitch metrics for Juan Soto’s performance.
Time Periods Analyzed
- Yankees (Late 2024): August–September 2024, when Soto batted in front of Aaron Judge, leveraging lineup protection.
- Mets (Early 2025): March–May 2025, after Soto’s move to the Mets, facing pitchers without Judge’s shadow.
Key Metrics
- Hits per Game: Raw output of Soto’s success at the plate.
- 10-Game Rolling Average: Smoothed trends to highlight performance shifts.
- Plate Appearances & Walk Rate: Insight into how pitchers approached Soto.
- Pitch Zone %: Percentage of pitches in the strike zone, revealing pitcher aggression.
Data Files
soto-2024.csv: Yankees performance data.soto-2025.csv: Mets performance data.
These datasets power our visualizations, letting the numbers tell the story of the Soto–Judge Effect.