Citi Field got the full Juan Soto experience Saturday afternoon, and the Marlins got buried under it. Up 6-1 and already cruising, the Mets handed Soto a bases-loaded look in the 6th and he did exactly what 765 million dollars is supposed to do — annihilated it 433 feet over the wall and turned a comfortable lead into a laugher.
Soto's grand slam clears the wall and pushes the Mets to 10-1 in the bottom of the 6th.
That's the kind of swing that buys a starting pitcher a clean line in the box score and buys the bullpen a nap. It should have been the only Mets storyline of the day. Instead, while Soto was rounding the bases, a chunk of the fanbase was already three hours deep into a different fight — one about the arm that came BEFORE the blowout started.
Brandon McLean, the prospect the Mets have been trying to develop into a real piece, had another rough outing, and Frank Fleming was not in the mood to be patient about it. The blame, in his telling, doesn't land on the kid. It lands on pitching coach Justin Willard and manager Carlos Mendoza, who Tank is convinced have officially broken another young arm in the David Peterson tradition.
Tank pins another McLean dud on the coaching staff and the front office.
Another shit outing by McLean Mendozeoff and Stearns broke another prospect
By the time the lineup was teeing off on Miami, Fleming had escalated from frustrated to full obituary mode. Calling someone "petersoned" is Mets-fan shorthand for a developmental dead-end, and slapping "worst pitching coach ever" on Willard before Memorial Day is the kind of take only a fully radicalized fanbase produces.
Tank declares McLean officially "petersoned" and hangs it on Justin Willard.
Justin Willard worst pitching coach ever ruined McLean forever he is now petersoned
And that's the funny tension of a 10-1 Mets win in 2026. The lineup is a video game, Soto is doing Soto things, the team is stacking blowouts — and the loudest corner of the fanbase is still screaming about the pitching staff and the guys running it. A grand slam papers over a lot. It doesn't paper over McLean's line, and it sure doesn't paper over Tank.