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The New York Mets face the New York Yankees for three games in The Bronx starting on Friday. Every Subway Series has a certain level of animosity, but this one will be different. Juan Soto had a career year with the Yankees last year and then signed a historic contract with the Mets this offseason. He knows that the Bronx faithful won't let him forget about that choice. He spoke with Jon Heyman of the New York Post before heading to Yankee Stadium.
“It's going to be 50,000 against one,” Soto told Heyman, per ESPN. “They're going to try to get on me, you know. It's part of it. Whatever they do, they have a right to do it.”
The Yankees and the Mets got into a bidding war for Soto this offseason, which Steve Cohen won with a $765 million contract. Hal Steinbrenner offered a 16-year, $760 million deal, which lost to $765 million over 15 years. Soto got off to a slow start while adjusting to a new team and stadium, but has taken off recently.
Soto's swing was tailor-made for Yankee Stadium with the short right-field porch. He had a .960 OPS in 77 games in The Bronx last year, which was actually lower than his 1.017 OPS on the road. But the Yankees and their fans know what they are going up against in Soto.
In this series, the Yankees will have their top two pitchers making starts. Carlos Rodon had strung together four great starts before a shaky outing against the Athletics. But he has every opportunity to endear himself to the Yankee fans on Friday. And then AL Cy Young frontrunner Max Fried will go on Sunday, looking to continue his excellent start.
The Yankees fans will let Soto hear it on Friday for choosing Queens over The Bronx. The Mets' new star would love to quiet them down with another Yankee Stadium homer.
