How Will Losing Former First Base Coach Antoan Richardson To Braves Affect Mets?
The New York Mets were the fifth-best base-stealing team in MLB a year ago but lost the mastermind behind it all to the NL East-rival Atlanta Braves.
The importance of good baserunning is undermined by good hitting, pitching and defending. All four are important, but a good baserunning team will oftentimes have a better season than a team that isn’t good on the bases. Although the New York Mets had an epic late-season collapse that saw them miss the playoffs in 2025, the team was one of the best baserunning teams in Major League Baseball.
The Mets, led by superstar outfielder Juan Soto’s 38 stolen bases, were fifth in the league with 147 swiped bags, eight more than the next-best Boston Red Sox. Soto, who isn’t known for his blazing speed, tied Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz for the most stolen bases in the National League. His career-high before last season was 12, which he achieved twice.
So, how did Soto miraculously steal nearly 40 bases and almost become the seventh member of the elusive 40/40 club ? With the help of former Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson. Under the tutelage of Richardson, Soto became heavily invested in becoming a better baserunner.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, if you ask New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, he’d tell you anyone can be a good baserunner if they set their mind to it. Well, it appeared Soto did that last season. “Soto seemed to do that, swiping 38 bases while getting thrown out just four times; it's as if he carried the attention to detail he has had in his intense plate appearances onto the bases, with Richardson's guidance,” Olney wrote Friday.