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finally

Minecraft’s “Vibrant Visuals” update finally has a release date

by admin June 15, 2025

Minecraft’s Vibrant Visuals update finally has a release date: 17th June.

We’ve known for some time that Mojang was planning on a visual overhaul for Minecraft, and yesterday (14th June), the studio released a new video not only reminding us just what Vibrant Visuals brings to the game, improving “visual elements such as directional lighting, volumetric fog, and more”, but also how the team achieved it.

MINECRAFT’S VISUAL REFRESH!Watch on YouTube

And the new feature really does elevate the world of Minecraft. As the developer explains, “every biome has their own atmosphere”, so warmer biomes will look more orange and yellowish, while cooler ones will take on a crisper blue appearance.

“This is a visual enhancement – there are no changes to Minecraft’s gameplay,” Mojang said. “For example, visual shadows will not impact light levels in a game-mechanics sense, or affect where hostile mobs spawn. Vibrant Visuals will be easy to access and approachable for many more Minecraft players, as it will be available on many platforms as a simple menu toggle.”

“This is a start on this journey of modernising the look and feel of Minecraft,” explained Vibrant Visuals Lead, Dejan Dimic. “So we look forward to hearing more feedback from the players.”

Vibrant Visuals is coming to supported devices for those running Minecraft Bedrock Edition, and if your device can run it, you can expect the new feature to be on by default once it updates. It still isn’t yet available for Java, but Mojang insists it’s “actively working” on it.

Image credit: Mojang

Did you catch the news that the roster of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is expanding outside of the Sonic universe to include other Sega characters and beyond? As announced at last week’s Summer Game Fest, joining the likes of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, will be Joker from Persona 5, Ichiban from the Like A Dragon games, Vocaloid artist Hatsune Miku, and – the reason why I’m making this seemingly nonsensical tangent – Steve from Minecraft, too.

It is, of course, a flagship year for Minecraft, thanks to the unbridled popularity of its cinema-trashing live-action movie adaptation.

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June 15, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

It’s About Darn Time: Apple Will Finally Screen Your Calls and Messages

by admin June 13, 2025

There’s one big feature I’m looking forward to in iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and MacOS Tahoe 26, and it’s one that Apple should have added ages ago: call and text screening. It could do more than keep me from talking to strangers — it could keep me safe from scammers looking to steal my information or my identity.

Similar to features from Google and Samsung, Apple’s Call Screening vets unknown callers by checking what they want before sending them your way. The company announced the capability at its Worldwide Developers Conference 2025 keynote.

This could help curb the threat of AI voice clone scams, which allow scammers to create AI voice clones with just 3 seconds of recorded voice. These call and message screening features may come years after many of Apple’s competitors have already implemented them, but it’s an easy W for Apple nonetheless.

There’s also a new text message filtering capability that places messages from unknown senders into a separate folder for you to review or ignore. This could help limit the number of people who fall for job, toll or other text phishing scams.

I get two, maybe three of these text messages a week. Having them on their own little island may not stop the frequency at which they’re sent, but it will certainly provide some peace of mind that I won’t accidentally click a scam link or fall for an AI phishing scam. Plus, a less cluttered inbox is always nice.

Apple’s new features come at a good time, too. A recent CNET survey showed that 96% of Americans receive at least one scam message from email, phone calls or texts each week. While Apple may be late to the party, anything that helps fewer scams reach you is a welcomed addition.

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Silent Hill revival is far from over, with the original 1999 cult classic finally being remade

by admin June 13, 2025

Off the back of the success of the Silent Hill 2 Remake – a remake that blew my initial low expectations out of the water completely – Konami has announced that it is working with Bloober Team once more to remake the original Silent Hill from 1999. We don’t yet have a release window, however, with the game being announced as ‘in development’ from Bloober Team and Konami, with no additional details.

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This reveal isn’t exactly surprising, given that Bloober Team announced it would be working with the publisher again in future not long after Silent Hill 2 Remake’s release. This led many, including myself, to believe that remakes of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 3 would be on the cards. After all, Bloober Team did such a good job of faithfully remaking Silent Hill 2, so it would be a damned shame to not give the studio another shot at remaking more cult classic entries in the series.

Fortunately, it’s clear that Konami has thought the same, and Silent Hill fans can now look forward to returning to the foggy, disturbing town of Silent Hill once more. Rather than being introduced to James Sunderland and his less-than-pleasant trauma surrounding his late wife, Silent Hill puts players into the shoes of single father Harry Mason as he and his adopted daughter set off on holiday to the town, in an attempt to seek some respite after the passing of Harry’s wife. Ok, that might seem a little similar to Silent Hill 2, but hear me out.

On the way to Silent Hill, Harry and Cheryl wind up in a car crash, and when Harry wakes up, his daughter is nowhere to be found. The story then ensues with Harry desperately trying to find his daughter and meeting all manner of terrifying creatures and kooky characters along the way. This still sounds similar to Silent Hill 2, but believe me, there’s a lot more going on here than the likes of Harry Mason’s psyche that I dare not spoil for folk whose first experience of the story will be this remake.

Bloober Team has its work cut out for it remaking yet another Silent Hill game. It’s a lot of pressure to be put on any developer’s shoulders. That said, after just how well Silent Hill 2 was executed and how much well-deserved praise it garnered, I personally have pretty high hopes for anything Silent Hill that has Bloober’s name attached to it. What do you think?

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Shiba Inu (SHIB): This Was Unexpected, XRP Now Finally Ready, Ethereum (ETH): Skyrocketing Comeback

by admin June 11, 2025

XRP’s Immediate Surge
Ethereum regains power

The recent price action of Shiba Inu has caught traders off guard. SHIB was rejected in early June after briefly regaining the 50-day EMA (around $0.00001418 USDT) after flirting with the 100-day EMA (around $0.00001392 USDT). It is currently trading just above its long-term support at about $0.00001200 USDT.

Investors were not prepared for this narrow trading range, which is positioned between firm support and obstinate resistance after a definite impulse leg higher in May. Buyers are still willing to defend that floor, as evidenced by the bounce off the $0.00001200 level, but it is concerning that there was little follow-through volume on the uptick. Neither side is committing capital in force, as evidenced by the daily volume tapering off.

SHIB/USDT Chart by TradingView

The fact that SHIB is still below the 50, 100 and 200-day EMA’s — all of which slope downward and support the current bearish trend — makes that especially problematic. Moreover, the RSI presents a cautious image. It suggests that the momentum is still leaning toward sellers as it sits close to 45.

It is probable that a prolonged decline below $0.00001200 would intensify selling pressure and pave the way for a retest of the March lows around $0.00001050. Alternatively the first step toward a real trend reversal would be if SHIB could force a clear close above $0.00001392 over the course of the next few sessions, ideally with a volume pickup.

XRP’s Immediate Surge

Lately XRP has risen sharply, decisively surpassing the 50-day (orange line) and 100-day (blue line) exponential moving averages. This is a significant development because rising above these important EMAs is frequently seen as a technical green light that indicates a possible market recovery and bullish momentum. The price holding above the 200-day EMA (black line) supports the breakout and strengthens a positive technical stance.

The sharp increase has given traders and investors new hope that following a protracted period of consolidation and sideways movement, XRP may be poised for a big comeback. But even though this technical move above important EMAs is encouraging, prudence is still necessary. The price action might still be a fakeout, which is a frequent occurrence in which the price momentarily rises above significant resistance levels before falling back.

Ethereum regains power

Ethereum has risen sharply above the crucial $2,600 price level, indicating the possible beginning of an enormous recovery that many have been waiting for. Following weeks of being trapped in a descending channel, ETH has now broken out and reentered an ascending channel, indicating fresh bullish momentum. The fact that this breakout coincides with solid support from important moving averages makes it noteworthy.

ETH is still comfortably above the moving averages of 50 days, 100 days and 200 days, which have historically served as important support levels during bullish periods. A clear sign that sellers are losing control and buyers are taking over to drive prices higher is the lack of bearish pressure pushing ETH below these levels.

iPadOS 26 finally made the iPad a true multitasking machine

by admin June 10, 2025

I genuinely never expected to say this: it appears Apple finally figured out multitasking on the iPad. With iPadOS 26, the company hasn’t completely taken off the guardrails for how you can use and place apps on your tablet, but it came awfully close. With a couple of clever iPad-specific tricks, and better support for a mouse or trackpad, the whole system just makes sense in a way it never has before. I’ve been running the very first developer beta for less than a day on an 11-inch iPad Air, and I can already sense a change in how I use my tablet.

The new multitasking system is mostly pretty easy to understand. You unlock the iPad and you’re dropped onto the homescreen full of app icons, same as always. When you open an app, it opens full-screen by default; at WWDC, Apple executives were careful to note that if you don’t want to encounter the new multitasking system, you never have to, and I think that’s true. (You can even turn the whole windowing system off in settings, if you want to.) But as soon as you tap and drag the little icon in the bottom right corner of the window, the app starts to shrink. You can make the app any size you want — any size the developer supports, at least, which does vary pretty widely — and put it anywhere on the screen. If you grab the top bar of an app and sort of toss it off to one side, it’ll automatically fill half the screen. Tap the new stoplight menu, and you can either close the app or make it full screen again.

Once you’ve resized an app, that is now the size and placement of that app. If you close and re-open it, it’ll open in the same size and place until you move it or resize it again. I’ve come to think of this space on my iPad as kind of an “app screen,” next to my homescreen, organized and laid out however I like. And unlike Stage Manager, everything is always how I left it. You can put as many apps on this screen as you want – I’ve had a dozen on there at a time, which is way more than makes any logical sense and certainly more than you can see at once.

Exposé is the best way to see everything you have open, all at once. Image: David Pierce / The Verge

At least in this early beta, there are a couple of quirks to the system. For one thing, I absolutely cannot figure out what the yellow “minimize” button does. You tap it, and the app closes, just like an app normally closes, and re-opens in place just like an app you’ve closed. I suspect this is a new app state developers will have to take advantage of, particularly as the iPad’s new background processing comes to fruition, but so far it doesn’t seem to do anything new.

You can only have one app active at a time, but you can scroll up and down in an app in the background — if you’re using a mouse or trackpad. If you’re touching the screen, you have to tap the app to bring it to the foreground before you can do anything with it at all. I’ve been using the CMD-Tab app switcher much more to quickly jump between things on the app screen, but it doesn’t always show every app I have open. The only way to get to everything is through the Exposé feature, which works well but is just a slightly slower way to move around.

By and large, though, it all just works. You can combine multitasking with Stage Manager, to turn your one organized app screen into a handful of them. You can run a bunch of windows on your iPad and a bunch more on an external monitor, or at least you can in theory — there’s a bug in the first beta that makes the whole system crash every time I open a second app on an external display. (I’m not super concerned about the functionality in the long run, but as always, install beta software at your own peril.)

The menu bar goes a long way toward making the iPad more Mac-ish. Image: David Pierce / The Verge

There are a few other Mac-style things about iPadOS 26 that help make multitasking work. First is that stoplight menu, which shows up at the top left corner of every app and makes it easier to close or maximize windows. There’s also the new pointer, which appears when you connect a Magic Keyboard or other mouse or trackpad. I think I underestimated how much better it would feel to have a small, more exact arrow pointer rather than the old circle. And there’s the new menu bar, which appears at the top of the screen and offers all the settings and options for whatever app you’re currently using.

In just a few hours with iPadOS 26, I’ve noticed a couple of big changes to how I use my tablet. I’m spending much less time on the homescreen, which almost doesn’t need to exist anymore — I’m launching apps with Spotlight, resizing them on my app screen, and getting back to them with CMD-Tab or Exposé. I’ve been using the dock more, too, as a quick way to get to the apps I use most when they’re not already front and center. It’s all a lot like the way I use my Mac, and it’s amazing how quickly that muscle memory kicked in.

Can I interest you in a completely unusable number of apps on your screen at once? Yes! Image: David Pierce / The Verge

Whenever I’ve tried to use multiple apps on the iPad, I’ve always felt like I was fighting the system. It would let you look at multiple things at a time, but it wanted you to see everything full screen. Now, and especially once developers update for even more fluid window sizes, multitasking feels like a first-class tablet citizen. It feels like a Mac in the sense that it feels like everything is happening in the same place, on the same screen, rather than constantly bouncing you between different full-screen experiences. Is it busier and occasionally more chaotic than the traditionally focused iPad vibe? You betcha! But I love it so far.

Ultimately, the answer to “can your iPad replace your laptop” still depends largely on your use case, and even more on the state of iPad apps. Until the iPad can run truly desktop-class browsers, I’m reluctant to say it can be your primary device. But now, maybe for the first time ever, the operating system itself doesn’t feel like it’s the problem. This is the most flexible version of Apple’s most flexible device. It can be a quiet, simple, single-tasking tablet or it can be a mess of windows put together just about any way you’d like. I’ve been waiting years for Apple to truly unleash the iPad, and I think it may have just done so.

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June 10, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

inZOI’s May update finally gets June release date – here’s what to expect

by admin June 9, 2025

The next major gameplay update for inZOI, Krafton’s very successful life sim (basically a modern The Sims), was initially set to arrive in May. However, it kept getting pushed back, so much so that it’s already June, and it has yet to arrive.

The good news is that the developer knows players have been patiently waiting for some clarity, and it has not only delivered a new release date, but also detailed what you can look forward to in the game’s first major update since it launched in March.

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First things first, the update is now scheduled for release this Friday, June 13. The news was confirmed in a blog post, where game director Hyungjun Kim apologised for the lack of clarity on the update’s release date, and vowed to share more regular development updates.

The June update brings several major features to the game. Modding support arrives in the form of ModKit, a suite of tools that allows players to create and publish mods for inZOI. Then there’s the ability to form same-sex relationships, which is a nice compliment to the new feature that allows Zois to have children – including adoption – regardless of marital status.

Teenage romance is another feature coming to inZOI with the update, and the blog post even jokes about how teenagers and adults kind of look the same in the game. On the subject of potential romance and courtship, players can now initiate conversation by texting first. You’ll only be able to pick from premade messages, but texting other Zois will let you make plans with them. Down the line, you may even be able to write your own custom messages, as it’s something the team hopes to implement.

This woman is very happy about what’s in this update (presumably). | Image credit: VG247 / inZOI Studio / Krafton

This being the game’s first major patch since launch, you can also count on a host of quality of life tweaks. After you install it, you’ll be able to adjust the size of the UI – including text – and enable in-game cheats more easily.

You may notice that your characters now look differently based on the lifestyle choices you’ve made for them. They’ll gain weight, build muscle and transform their physique depending on their diet and exercise habits.

On top of the ability to text first covered above, Zois can now exchange items with each other, meaning you can gift stuff to other Zois, or sell them.

There’s a range of tweaks to existing features, bug fixes, and even some new content you’ll find. A host of new character customisation options is part of this update, including a few hair-related ones, as well as over 100 new furniture items to decorate your home with.

While you wait for Friday’s big drop, you can read up on how to enable inZOI’s advanced character AI (and whether you actually should) in our guide. For more specialised help, here’s how to cure sickness in inZOI, how to go to university, and how to get a job.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Paralives, the long-anticipated indie Sims-like, finally announces an early access release date, adding to 2025’s already packed life sim line-up

by admin June 9, 2025

It’s been almost exactly six years since developer Alex Massé (of PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator fame) announced his indie life sim Paralives; now, the game finally has an early access release date, courtesy of its appearance at last night’s PC Gaming Show at Summer Game Fest. And, as promised, it’s going to be coming out this year – although you’re going to have to wait until December 8 to get your hands on this painterly Sims-like.

The project originated as a solo effort from Massé, but the Paralives team has now expanded to around a dozen developers, supported by a Patreon that pulls in around $30K a month from fans eager to see a serious indie rival to EA’s long-running The Sims franchise.

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Paralives clearly takes a lot of cues from the life sim giant that’s been doing the rounds for a full quarter-century now, and long-time Simmers will be on familiar footing when they encounter the core gameplay loop. But there’s plenty to recommend Paralives on its own merits, from its softly stylised art style that advertises its crowd-pleasing cosiness, to its back-to-basics approach to life simulation that aims for loving detail over expansive scope.

The release date trailer confirmed my suspicions that Paralives could well be considered a spiritual successor to earlier generations of The Sims, focusing on daily life in an impossibly gorgeous little town where the architecture and decor of aspirational yet lived-in family homes take centre-stage. Paralives also seems very grounded – there’s no sign of the urban fantasy themes that frequently slip into The Sims (which I love, for the record, but recognise that not every Simmer does) – with trailers focussing on that ideal of middle-class suburbia that was a hallmark of The Sims back in the day.

Grab a coffee with friends, go to yoga class, play catch with your adorable two-point-five kids on your well-manicured lawn, and then have a sobbing breakdown in the bathroom once the family’s in bed – this is surely the dream of adulthood that was sold to me when the life sim genre first hit it big at the turn of the millennium.

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Massé’s team have previously asserted that they plan to keep Paralives add-ons free for all players – in stark contrast to EA’s practice of expanding The Sims with countless paid DLCs at various price points – and although they haven’t yet outlined exactly how they plan to do this, it’s reasonable to suspect that some kind of early access deal for Patrons might be part of the plan.

Paralives isn’t the only life sim in the news this week, as fellow Sims rival inZOI has emerged from hiding to announce a release date for its first major content update since its launch; the update finally remembers to properly enable same-gender romance (just in time for Pride Month!) as well as the much-anticipated arrival of mod support. And The Sims 4 itself hasn’t been quiet either, releasing a summer content roadmap teasing the long-awaited return of fairies in the new Enchanted By Nature expansion pack that’s being officially revealed this month, too.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

‘Invincible’ is Finally Getting Its Own Fighting Game

by admin June 9, 2025

Once it became clear Prime Video’s adaptation of Invincible was a hit, fans and comic co-creator Robert Kirkman started talking more. Not just more seasons, but where else the IP could go, specifically video games. After a mobile game and a visual novel for Atom Eve, the time’s come for the series to really get its hands bloody.

During the Xbox Games Showcase, Skybound Games and developer Quarter Up unveiled Invincible VS, the franchise’s first full video game for consoles and PC. Naturally, it’s a fighting game, and players will assemble three-person teams and go head-to-head against other players online. Beyond Mark and his dad Nolan, the roster includes heroes like Atom Eve, Rex Splode, and Bulletproof, plus Viltrumites Thula and Lucan. Some of the TV actors also look to be reprising their roles for the game.

According to a press release from Skybound, VS will also feature a single-player story along with competitive and casual multiplayer and Training and Arcade modes.

This being Invincible, characters shed a lot of blood as they beat each other into a pulp. Along with the tag-team mechanics of Marvel vs. Capcom (or more recently Marvel Tōkon), it looks like VS is taking inspiration from NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat games in that the fighters all have brutal finishers they can inflict on one another. If Mark can headbutt guys’ heads off and Eve can blast them apart, everyone else’s are gonna be just as gnarly. But will they top Omni-Man’s gruesome train murder used in Mortal Kombat 1?

Invincible VS releases in 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

A character talking to a robotic policeman in Clockwork Revolution in an old victorian building

Gaming Gear

Steampunk RPG Clockwork Revolution has finally received another trailer after a basically 2 years of silence

by admin June 8, 2025

After two years of essentially silence, gritty steampunk RPG Clockwork Revolution has finally received another trailer at today’s Xbox Games Showcase, giving us a far more in-depth look at what to expect compared to its last announcement.

A handful of new characters have now been introduced, and the interactions featured have definitely helped set more of a cheeky tone for the game which the original reveal lacked. A lot of Avalon was shown off too, alongside brief looks at things like character customisation and weapon customisation, which even I felt a bit giddy about as someone who usually hates fiddling with gun parts. I expected to have to scrounge around looking for old firearms, but it looks like we’ll be able to blueprint our own together.

Clockwork Revolution Xbox Showcase 2025 Trailer – YouTube

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The most exciting aspect of the game, the ability to bend time and alter the storyline with the decisions you make while you play, was briefly given a spotlight, too, and it seems like this decision-making will play a very significant role in Clockwork Revolution. With that said, I’m left with more questions than I originally had now we’ve had yet another taste of what’s coming.

We’re working with an “in due time” release at the moment, but now that we have a gameplay trailer, it definitely feels like we’re getting closer to a release window announcement. At least I’ve been reassured that the game does actually exist as I was starting to convince myself I’d imagined it.

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June 8, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Juan Soto, the showman, finally showing up for New York Mets

by admin June 7, 2025

Jorge CastilloJun 6, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
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LOS ANGELES — The Juan Soto the New York Mets expected when they gave him the richest contract in sports history finally appeared in his purest form Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium by stealing the show without even putting the ball in play.

Twice, in his second and third plate appearances, Soto engaged in theatrical seven-pitch battles with Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin. And twice he won with enthralling walks, commanding attention as much between pitches as during the action.

He flashed smiles waiting for Gonsolin’s pitches, after taking pitches, and after cracking a line drive just foul down the right-field line. He nodded and he shook his head. He backpedaled and he high-stepped. He strutted his hips and he Soto Shuffled. By the end, after checking a swing to take his second walk and daring Gonsolin to throw over to first base, he and Gonsolin were jawing at each other.

He was loose. He was confident. He was finally Juan Soto, the showman.

“It’s Juan Soto being Juan Soto,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

That Juan Soto was absent during his first two months with the Mets as he failed to perform to his lofty standards. Various underlying metrics — expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, hard-hit percentage, chase rate, among others — suggest he was a victim of misfortune, but results are results. And the results — a .224 batting average and .745 OPS through May 28 — were disappointing for a superstar in his age-26 season.

“Soto’s been Soto for us,” Mets co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said. “He just hasn’t had the batted ball luck to go with it. And he’s been aware of that.”

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Beyond the production, Soto’s demeanor over the season’s first two months was notably different from his usual comportment. He has drawn external criticism more than once for a lack of hustle, and his trademark flair in the batter’s box has rarely been on display. His interactions with teammates have been dissected and analyzed. His body language has been placed under a microscope. He’s heard boos. The noise has been constant.

Before Wednesday’s game, a 6-1 Mets win, Soto, who is playing on his fourth team in four seasons, admitted adapting to his new organization and the weight of a $765 million contract has been a challenge.

“I still need a little more time, but little by little it’s been getting better,” Soto told ESPN in Spanish, when asked about feeling 100% himself amid all of the changes and additional pressure. “I’ve been feeling more comfortable.”

Behind the scenes, Soto said he’s leaned on Mendoza as he adjusts to his surroundings. The two “talk a lot,” Soto said, with a level of transparency he called important.

Mendoza said their talks are almost never about what’s happening on the field. The topics range from family to their home countries (Soto is from the Dominican Republic and Mendoza hails from Venezuela) to their previous experiences in the sport.

They chat periodically — once a week or biweekly — when Mendoza senses the moment is right. It’s an approach Mendoza said he takes with all of his players, especially ones new to the organization. The effort has resonated with Soto.

“We have good conversations that, at the end of the day, help me feel better acclimated to the team,” Soto said.

Last Friday, before New York opened a three-game set against the historically abysmal Colorado Rockies, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns emphasized Soto’s work behind the scenes was not an issue. He said he did not see an issue Soto needed to repair. But he acknowledged Soto is “trying to do a little bit too much right now.”

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“He certainly wants results at a higher level than what we’ve seen so far,” Stearns said. “I’m pretty confident we’re going to get those. But I also understand it is natural when a player signs a big contract — and this was a really big contract — if the results aren’t immediate, there are going to be questions and there are going to be reactions. And I completely get that. And I think Juan does too.”

Soto went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in a win that night to begin a week of encouraging production. The sample size is miniscule, but Soto has recorded six hits, eight walks and just two strikeouts — adding up to a .484 on-base percentage — over his last seven games against the Rockies and Dodgers.

Before Wednesday — when he went 0-for-1 with three walks and an RBI — he had clubbed three home runs in four games and recorded extra-base hits in five consecutive contests by being more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone — he swung at only 53% of pitches in the zone in May — while continuing to hit the ball hard.

Soto has posted similar mini stretches this season, displaying flashes of the talent that had franchises bidding astronomical amounts of money for his services. But he’s expected to sustain an elite output.

He went hitless with two walks in Thursday’s series finale in Los Angeles — a 6-5 loss for the Mets — and is still batting just .229 with a .797 OPS, 11 home runs and a league-leading 50 walks in 62 games this season. The numbers pale in comparison to the .285 batting average and .953 OPS he registered over his first seven seasons.

“It’s a little difficult because it’s frustrating not seeing the results in what you’re doing,” Soto said. “It’s uncomfortable. You try to help the team as much as you can. But I have a good routine. I have confidence in it, and I know I’ve done it for all these years, all these days, so I have plenty of confidence in it to get the results I want.”

Mets starter Clay Holmes witnessed Soto produce the results he wanted last season as his teammate on the New York Yankees. Soto mashed a career-high 41 home runs with a .989 OPS in his platform year, finishing third in American League MVP voting and collaborating with Aaron Judge to create the most dangerous one-two punch in the majors as the Yankees advanced to the World Series.

“I still feel like I’m still watching the same guy,” Holmes said. “I don’t feel like something’s just crazy off. Looks like the same guy to me.”

On Wednesday, Scott Boras, the man who negotiated Soto’s record-smashing contract, called Soto’s return to Yankee Stadium in mid-May — when he received relentless boos and vulgar chants over a three-game series — a “hurdle” in his acclimation process. “It was the first time he got to see a lot of his old teammates and they accomplished a lot together.”

“It’s psychological,” Boras said of the transition. “It’s different. You’re treated differently because of your contract status. Everybody’s aware, and you kind of want it to be how it was, not how it is. And you have to learn the ‘is’ part, and it’s a new part of the process.”

A few hours later, Boras watched vintage Juan Soto resurface from his front-row seat behind home plate at Dodger Stadium. The Mets hope it was just the start.

“Little by little,” Soto said.

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June 7, 2025 0 comments