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The Subway Series is over but the heat is still on New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto.
The day after Soto failed to hustle out of the box against his former team, the New York Yankees, he seemed to do it again in a 3-1 Mets loss to the Boston Red Sox. This time, it was on a hit he thought was headed over the Green Monster at Fenway Park, only to see it hit the wall and stay in play. Soto settled for a single but stole second on the next pitch.
The New York Post had some fun with it, giving Soto back page “honors” with the text “Juan Slo-Mo.”
“Soto fails to bust it out of the box — again — and denies it's an issue after ugly loss,” the subhead reads.
“I think I have been hustling very hard,” Soto said after the game. “If you saw it today, you could tell.”
His manager, Carlos Mendoza, said he would discuss the issue with his $765 million star.
“We’ll talk to him about it,” Mendoza said. “Tonight, obviously when someone gets a hold of [a pitch] and knows when he gets it, it’s Juan. He thought he had it, but with the wind … but in this ballpark and anywhere in particular, with that wall right there, you have got to get out of the box. So, yeah, we’ll discuss that.”
Juan Soto's blunder comes after disastrous Mets series vs. Yankees
In addition to failing to run out a ground ball against the Yankees, Soto went 1-10 over the weekend as the Mets lost two out of three. Yankees fans booed him vociferously as Soto dodged the media — both in the clubhouse after the game and with ESPN's request to mic him up during Sunday's game.
According to Bob Klapisch of NJ.com, Soto's attitude is becoming a cause for concern among the Mets' brass, who fear he is unhappy with his new team.
“That’s not the same stand-up guy who was always at his locker last season,” Klapisch wrote on Monday. “Even after being skewered on Friday, Soto spoke of the obligation to ‘take it like a man.' Two days later, he was running for the exit.”
“The only time Soto seemed happy this weekend was while he interacted with Judge, Aaron Boone, and Jazz Chisholm during batting practice,” he added.
