From Bryan Hoch:
Juan Soto whipped his bat and felt the sweet kiss of ball against barrel, allowing himself a moment to admire a drive destined for the right-field seats. Looking toward the dugout, he flipped his bat and shouted, inviting his teammates to strap in and enjoy the ride.
The “Soto Show” continues to provide must-watch theater nightly in the Bronx, where the superstar has been better than advertised. Soto’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run outburst as the Yankees rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Rays on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s just great,” Soto said. “Like I’ve said before, we feel like family right now. We really stick together, and they really enjoy my success.”
Soto received a standing ovation and chants of “M-V-P!” from fans in the seats as he took his defensive position in the eighth inning. It is no stretch to imagine the 25-year-old claiming those honors at season’s end, but for now, Soto said it is “way too early.”
“But definitely, it feels great,” Soto said. “They really support me, day in and day out. It just feels amazing.”
It really is amazing to watch this guy hit. I’m trying to remember what my answer was for the last Yankee who was THIS professional of a hitter. If we’re counting juiced ball DJ, then it would be juiced ball DJ. Before that, though, I mean, is it peak Donnie Baseball?
It’s not even like Soto is some superhuman hitter or whatever, it’s just that he almost never swings at balls. His plate discipline is amazing. He’ll still strike out plenty, but they’re on strikes. So he has amazing plate discipline (some of the best I’ve ever seen), and prodigious power – he really is just the complete deal here. It’s like all of the raw talent of Miggy Cabrera, mixed with the batting skills of Albert Pujols. It’s just remarkable.
I imagine that the Mets will make him one heck of an offer to leave the Yankees, but I think he re-signs here long term. They’re already paying him $33 million this year. Would it really strain Hal’s budget that much to add $17 million to that number and sign him to, like, a 12-year/$600 million contract? That batting eye is never going away. This guy would totally still have that eye when he’s 38. The power might not be there, but that eye is never leaving, and so long as he has that, he’ll be a productive Major League hitter, and won’t kill you on the back end. And on the front end, well, I mean, we’re seeing it every game, right? Just amazing stuff.
Less amazing was Clarke Schmidt, who still pitched pretty well. The only dud tonight was Ian Hamilton, who was knocked around badly, but hung in there and got out of the eighth only allowing two runs after giving up hits to four of the first five batters he faced (and he walked the fifth guy).
Clay Holmes wasn’t great, either, allowing hits to the first three guys HE faced, as well, but luckily, Ben Rortvedt (annoyingly 2-4, but one of the two hits was a fluke hit) was thrown out at third on the third hit (Judge looked like he was going to catch it, so when it fell in for a hit, Rortvedt was practically on second base, and so was thrown out at third easily). He then got out of the inning (and secured the save) via a line drive double play. That was scary.
Also scary? Hamilton is probably not available tonight, and nor is their third-best reliever at the moment, Dennis Santana (and it is bizarre that Santana is their third-best reliever), so if Saturday’s game is a close one, their top guys will be Caleb Ferguson, Victor Gonzalez and Ron Marinnacio, now that Nick Burdi is, naturally, back to the IL. That’s annoying.
Also annoying? DJ LeMahieu was set to start a rehab assignment on Friday, but the doctors gave him an MRI and said he wasn’t healing enough. They think he can start in a few days, so it’s not THAT big of a deal, but it sure ain’t a great sign. Boone has already said that DJ won’t go back to the leadoff spot, and I don’t like that at all. DJ in the middle of the lineup is so dumb. Boone keeps trying it, but DJ is much better suited to leading off with his high OBP.
In any event, great win.
So the strategy is for every pitcher to give up more hits than innings pitched. Preferably at least twice as many.
Not really on board with that as a strategy for winning games.
Any chance Soto would sign now? Or would that just advance the date of his inevitable autoexplosive injury?
I’d assume there is a chance. It’s probably close to zero though since he’s so close to free agency and has rejected long term offers already.
Same. Not literally impossible, but extremely unlikely.
Who is everyone’s favorite Yankee? Mine is Stro. First Yankee player I can think of who seems to genuinely, publicly celebrate pride. Pretty cool.
Who?
Stroman, one of the few MLB players to publicly support LGBTQ+ people.
Ah.
Thanks.
“”Stro” seems a somewhat infelicitous nickname around these parts.
Pinstripe Alley “ Vrieling was a third-round pick for the Yankees in the 2022 draft out of Gonzaga, where his ERA and command got WORSE each year. His unsightly 4.91 ERA in 80.2 innings as a junior might make you scratch your head and wonder how such a bad platform year catapulted him into the third round. Vrieling is a perfect example of the Yankees prioritizing traits. His rising four-seam fastball and mega high-spin slider presented two interesting offerings, Vrieling is skipping Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley despite having zero minor-league innings to his name.”
HIS ERA after 3 starts is 0.48. More ar PA
Fascinating.
Grisham, Jones day. Stanton, Gleyber sit. Wells catching.