San Diego Padres fans are still upset that the Juan Soto era has come to an end after a year and a half in the job.
With the New York Yankees coming to town this weekend and Soto set to don a pinstriped uniform, Padres fans wanted to make their feelings about their superstar known.
Soto was cheered by the Petco Park crowd after striking out in his first at-bat, but was booed during his second turn at bat during the Yankees’ 8-0 win on Friday.
To the surprise of no one, the .315 batting average man was unfazed by the crowd’s anger and hit Yu Darvish’s second pitch 423 feet.
“I wasn’t expecting cheers or boos, but I got both,” Soto said. Potential free agents In the winter. “I was right in the middle. It was really cool. That’s fine. I don’t mind it at all.”
Soto led off a tough inning for Darvish. Aaron Judge followed Soto’s home run with his 16th of the season. Two batters later, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 13th of the season to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead.
The game was Soto’s first with San Diego since being traded to New York on Dec. 7. He’s off to a hot start with 14 homers and 43 RBI for the AL East-leading Yankees.
“It’s kind of tough for me because the guys have been there for me every day,” Soto said before Friday’s game, via The Athletic . “I tried my best. I played hard every day, but I didn’t play my best. One of the things that made me sad is I didn’t get to show them how good I can be, but that’s the way it is. I’m really happy that I got a chance to give 100 percent, but you never know how they’re going to react. It’s baseball, it’s crazy. I’m anticipating how it goes tonight.”
Soto played in 214 games over two seasons with the Padres, batting .265 with 41 home runs and 125 RBIs. He helped the team reach the 2022 National League Championship Series but lost to the Philadelphia Phillies before finishing third in the NL West last season and missing the playoffs.
“For me, it’s just baseball,” Soto said. “I think I had a great time in San Diego. We had a great team in 2023. Baseball is baseball. At the end of the day, even if you have the best team on paper, you’ve got to go out there and try to win. But stuff happens. Luck wasn’t on our side in 2023. There were some games that were out of our control. But that’s ok. It’s in the past now.”
Soto’s future remains unclear because his current contract expires after this season and he is expected to receive a huge signing bonus. The Yankees clearly want to keep him, but money matters, and it will be up to owner Hal Steinbrenner to decide whether Soto’s desired amount and length of time aligns with the organization’s needs.
