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New York Mets’ prized free agent acquisition Juan Soto made his return to Yankee Stadium for a three-game series in the Bronx. Soto faced off against his former team for the first time since spurning the Yankees to sign with their crosstown rivals this offseason. And things didn’t go so great. Soto went 1-10 with four walks and two runs scored in the Subway Series. The Yankees took two of the three games. And, most damaging, Soto was called out for a lack of hustle.
Still, as far as Soto is concerned, well, you know, that’s just like, your opinion, man. When speaking to reporters after the Mets’ loss on Sunday, the four-time All-Star faced questions about his awareness and hustle out of the box. But Soto shut that whole line of inquiry down.
“No. I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard. If you see it today, you could tell,” Soto retorted, per SNY on X.
Juan Soto on Mets tenure: Everyday I’m hustlin’
After joining the Yankees for the 2024 season via trade and helping the Bombers reach the World Series, Soto chose not to re-sign with the team, opting instead to ink a massive 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. And, with the exception of defecting to Boston, there’s probably not a lower blow Soto could have delivered to the Yankees faithful.
And so, quite predictably, Yankees fans let him have it when he returned to the Bronx in a Mets uniform. Fans just absolutely showered Soto with boos every chance they got. And no matter how cool he played it off, chuckling to himself, tipping his cap to the crowd, there’s just no way that felt very good.
Soto’s other big problem – in addition to the uninspired series and his new rep as a loafer – is that he, albeit unintentionally, brought this on himself.
Now, obviously, there was no chance he wasn't going to get viciously booed at Yankee Stadium. However, his handling of the lead-up to the Subway Series may have made things that much worse. Soto went out of his way to talk about looking forward to returning to the Bronx, telling reporters he’s excited for the crowd and didn’t mind boos being directed at him.
Soto very obviously didn’t want anyone to think the crowd could get to him. So he played it off like it was no big deal. In fact, I'm actually looking forward to 45,000 drunk and angry Yankees fans directing their vitriol at me for three straight days. Why wouldn’t I be?
The problem is, it seems that fans took his nonchalance regarding their ability to get under his skin as a challenge and then they completely succeeded in getting under his skin.
Soto is not off to a great start in his debut season with the Mets, with numbers well below his career averages. But if fans are looking for a silver lining, the Mets are 29-19 and tied for first place in the NL East and they haven’t even gotten superstar-level play from their superstar player yet. And just like those boos at Yankee Stadium, a Soto resurgence this season is coming. It's inevitable.
