While New York Mets star Juan Soto has had a slow start to the season, there are many waiting for the inevitability of him getting back to his usual production. The Mets star would explain the start using Aaron Judge as a reason, which set some people aback, as manager Carlos Mendoza gave his opinion.

Overall, Soto would mention how he's getting pitched differently now than he was with the Yankees since he had Judge batting behind him. On the show “Foul Territory,” Mendoza would downplay the severity of Soto's response and mentioned they had a conversation through lunch, speaking about how viral the quote got.

“I wouldn't say I have to have a conversation,” Mendoza said. “It happened, you know, it happens organically, and I did have it, but it was just more like a conversation, having lunch the very next day. I was like, ‘Man, like you answered that question, it came from your heart, you were pretty honest, and before you know it, there's a headline.'”

“I mean, he was asked a question, hey, you feel like you've been pitching differently, and he honestly answered the question and said, ‘Yeah, everybody knows it, you know.' So it became a big deal. So this was the day after we were having lunch, and that's how it happens, that the conversations, but it's New York, and you just gotta know that, you know, even though he's coming from a good place, it could be a big deal.”

Mets' Juan Soto said he had “the best hitter in baseball behind me”

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As Soto has started to come around for the Mets as of late, it was a relatively cold start for the superstar who got a huge $765 million contract this past offseason. Through 25 games and 90 plate appearances, he's hitting a .233 batting average with three home runs and 12 RBIs with a .753 OPS, and he said to the New York Post on April 14 that he had “the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me” in Judge.

“It’s definitely different,” Soto said about being pitched to differently early in his first season with the Mets. “I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me, I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that, I was pitched differently last year.”

At any rate, as Soto continues to adapt, New York will start a four-game series against the Washington Nationals beginning on Friday night as the team 18-7 which puts them first in the NL East.