Through the first two months of the 2025 season, Juan Soto’s been just about as underwhelming as anyone could’ve imagined. The 26-year-old has hit just .224/.352/.393 with a 113 wRC+ that ranks 85th in baseball and a .330 wOBA that ranks 86th. Those two metrics are linked, albeit with more nuance and accuracy in wRC+ than the latter.
Expected stats based on Statcast data give us something by which we can compare wOBA, though: xwOBA. Here’s the definition straight from MLB’s stats glossary.
xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed.