Juan Soto did not encounter many rough spells in his only season with the Yankees, so it’s not clear how the Bronx crowd would have responded if Soto got off to a slow start.
However, Soto admitted that he was caught off guard by an ovation he received on Friday night by the Citifield crowd in five innings.
“100%,” Soto said on Sunday whether he was surprised by the reaction. ”
Soto said he was “excited” when he realized it was a form of encouragement.
“That’s a great feeling,” Soto said. “When you have a fanbase that supports you when you’re doing bad or good things, you’re really grateful for it. They feel like they don’t know how meaningful it means. I feel like every player feels that way. That’s the same thing in the playoffs.
After an unexpected oval that night, Soto ripped the run-scoring single.
With Saturday’s victory, manager Carlos Mendoza said he saw a better swing from Soto than he saw at other points of the season. The manager added that he didn’t see “Flying Open” and Soto at some points this season.
And on Sunday, when Soto and the Mets completed a four-game sweep for the Cardinals in a 7-4 victory at Citifield, the right fielder raced a two-run double and a left center that helped seal the game.
He finished the game with three RBIs. A speedy Tyrone Taylor on Soto’s sacrifice fly scored with a shallow fly on the third remaining shallow fly, one by one on the right side of the infield.
The 26-year-old didn’t look like the batsman the Mets expected when he gave him a 15-year $765 million deal in December, but the team continues to win without Peak Soto.
His drive to the gap in the left-center gap of right-handed Ryan Fernandez was a 106 mph shot splitting up the outfielder and showing off Soto’s strength all over the field.
“We all know what he can do,” Brandon Nemo said. He’ll be fine. The biggest thing for him is not to overdo it. Continue to hit the right field and doubles on singles, transforming into Homer. ”
Soto had nothing without consistency over the course of his career, so there is no reason to believe they weren’t.
“There will be ups and downs,” Soto said.
However, over the weekend, when the Mets stomped the Cardinals, Soto gave them reason to hope that he would soon look like him.
And perhaps support from the fanbase may not have helped.
