PORT ST. LUCIE — As Juan Soto prepares to conclude his first spring training in a Mets uniform, his goals have been fulfilled.
He’s in shape.
His swing is where he wants it.
He’s become part of the team.
“My body feels great — I am in a good spot,” Soto told The Post on Saturday. “I am in shape, so I feel good to start the season.”
For a second straight year, his debut with a new team will occur in Houston.
Last season, Soto played his first game with the Yankees at Minute Maid Park and reached base three times to help his team to victory.
He has already begun to consider what Thursday will bring.
“Opening Day with another team,” he said. “I am happy to be a part of it, and I hope it’s going to be like that all year.”
Soto homered in his first plate appearance this spring and hasn’t removed his foot from the accelerator. It’s been the kind of dress rehearsal the Mets might have expected following his arrival in December on a record $765 million contract for 15 years.
This spring he owns a .306/.409/.694 slash line with a team-leading four homers and nine RBIs.
Behind the scenes, the 26-year-old outfielder has lived up to his reputation.
“He’s just confirming everything, because you see all the incredible stuff he’s done in the game and he does all the little things,” Pete Alonso said. “He is super consistent in his work, whether it be in the weight room, training room, cage. The thought process of getting better every single day. Just seeing him work and go about his business every single day, it just confirms what I thought.
“And it’s awesome, because we have been on the receiving end of how good a player he’s been for the last six years that I have been here. He’s one of those guys that can change the game at any moment.”
Soto was asked for his takeaways from his first spring training with the club.
“The coaches are big-time coaches and the staff, the way they have been treating me, I think it’s huge for me,” Soto said.
In the clubhouse and on the field, Soto’s gravitational pull on the young players has been hard to miss. One of those players, Brett Baty — whose locker is adjacent to Soto’s — is enjoying a breakout spring that has positioned him to become the team’s starting second baseman in Jeff McNeil’s absence.
It’s the same Baty who received a $92,000 vehicle from Soto early in camp as a gift for surrendering jersey No. 22 to him.
“It’s incredible what [Baty] has been doing and I am excited,” Soto said. “He has a big chance to make the team and I am looking forward to seeing him doing whatever he’s doing right now and seeing it during the season.”
Francisco Lindor’s bat has been quiet this spring, but the other Mets cornerstone has impressed Soto with his work ethic.
“The way he goes about his things I think is impressive,” Soto said. “How much he works and how much he puts into it.”
Soto’s presence has been noticeable, according to Starling Marte.
“When these young players can have someone like that talk to them, whether it’s about controlling the strike zone or just talking baseball, I think he can do a lot of good things,” Marte said.
Alonso, who is four years older than Soto but debuted in the major leagues a season after the All-Star outfielder, said it’s easy to mistake Soto for somebody much older.
“People think he is older because this is his seventh or eighth year,” Alonso said. “It’s like, ‘Well, he’s been around for a long time, but he’s only 26 years old.’ People think he is older than he is.”
