Dwight Gooden Wants To Speak With Juan Soto About Early Season Struggles

Juan Soto's 15-year contract with the Mets is off to a less-than-stellar start ... but Dwight Gooden thinks it's only a matter of time until he turns things around -- telling TMZ Sports he'd like to talk to the MLB superstar to help get him out of his slump!!

We caught up with the Mets legend about the franchise's $765 million man's current output not matching his salary (.243 batting average, 8 home runs and 21 RBI heading into Friday's tilt with the Dodgers) and while some Mets fans are freakin' out, Doc certainly isn't.

"He set the bar so high his first six years, when expectation is going to be there, and then you throw in the contract he just signed, everybody's expecting everything," he said. "Unfortunately, every little thing that happens now, they point at him with a lot of stuff."

Of course, there's a massive spotlight on Soto thanks to the deal he signed in December -- the biggest in the four major North American sports leagues.

While Doc thinks Soto earned his check ... he does think it's time to get back to the basics when it comes to his game.

"He earned that, but now he's in a situation where he should be able to relax, you would think, but the added pressure does play a part," Gooden said. "It just takes time sometimes, because we forget he's 26 years old, and you know, he's never been through this before."

"He just needs somebody in his ear to let him know it's gonna be okay."