Yankees' Juan Soto continues to contribute as postseason begins
Juan Soto #22 of the Yankees doubles during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The love affair between Juan Soto and Yankees fans started immediately this season and lasted all spring, summer and fall.
It continued on Saturday night as Soto received among the loudest cheers — non-Aaron Judge edition — before Game 1 of the Yankees’ AL Division Series against the Royals at Yankee Stadium.
“The other guys were talking about how loud this place is going to be,” Soto said on Friday. “That’s what I’m looking forward to see and to hear — those fans going crazy.”
Whether Soto will be one-and-done in the Bronx or will agree to a long-term relationship with those crazy fans remains to be seen.
“I’ve been enjoying my time here,” Soto said. “It’s always great to be on a winning team.”
Soto’s impending free agency — what, you didn’t know Soto will be a free agent after the season? — makes it even more imperative for the Yankees to win a championship in 2024. This could be their only chance with Soto, who will turn 26 on Oct. 25.
“For me, it’s over. All the [free agency] talk is over,” Soto said. “Right now, we focus on the playoffs. We’ve been talking about trying to get another championship.”
Once the World Series is over, whether the Yankees are in it or not, Soto will leave the Bronx lovefest behind and head into free agency at the peak of his prominence.
Soto will leave the negotiating to Scott Boras, the pit bull agent who won’t care about the Bleacher Creatures and their fondness for Soto. Boras’ job is to get Soto the most money, and after he whiffed with multiple players last offseason, you can bet he’ll be banking on scoring a record deal.
Soto, for his part, handled his walk year as well as he handled opposing pitchers. He hit .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and a .989 OPS, and also hit 1.000 when it came to answering never-ending questions about his intentions once the offseason begins.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, asked about Soto’s status on Friday, said: “I’m not thinking of the free-agency part of it. I don’t think he is. I think he is loving being here and being part of this team and knowing what’s at stake and what he has an opportunity to do. He’s been in playoff baseball before and won a championship, so he obviously knows what it takes. I think that’s where his mind is.”
Soto has a World Series ring from the 2019 Washington Nationals. I asked him where he keeps it, and he said, “My house. In my safe.”
So Soto is as smart as he is talented.
On Saturday, Soto picked up the Yankees’ first hit of the postseason when he dunked an 0-and-2 pitch down the leftfield line for a first-inning double after Gleyber Torres led off with a walk.
Despite having runners at second and third, the Yankees did not score. Michael Wacha struck out Judge on a 3-and-2 pitch, got Austin Wells to hit a grounder to first (with Torres getting thrown out at home) and struck out Giancarlo Stanton.
Soto did his part to keep the Royals off the board when he threw out Salvador Perez at the plate on a single to right by MJ Melendez for the first out of the second inning, but Kansas City then took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Pham.
It was reminiscent of the superb throw Soto made in his first game as a Yankee. It was way back on March 28 in Houston, when Soto nailed Mauricio Dubon at the plate on a single to right for the second out of the ninth inning in an eventual 5-4 Yankees victory.
On Saturday, with Gerrit Cole struggling, it was unwise for the Royals to test Soto with nobody out.
The first batter of the game, Michael Massey, drove Soto to the wall in right for a first-pitch out. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a screamer into the left-centerfield gap that Judge ran down like the wide receiver he was in high school.
Torres gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead with a short-porch-special two-run homer to right in the third.
Torres’ homer would have been gonzo in exactly one MLB stadium — the one in the Bronx with the crazy fans who would love to see Juan Soto wearing pinstripes on Opening Day 2025. After the parade, of course.
The Royals signaled in Game 1 that they aren’t going to make it easy on the Yankees. Melendez put Kansas City back on top with a two-run homer in the fourth over Soto’s futile leaping try.
Hey, Soto can’t do everything. But he did what he could, picking up the Yankees’ only hit in a two-run fifth inning that gave them a 4-3 lead.
Kansas City went ahead in the sixth with two unearned runs, thanks to a throwing error by Anthony Volpe. The Yankees tied it again in the bottom of the sixth on Wells’ RBI single. Soto had a hit in that inning, too. The score was 5-5 going to the seventh.
As we said: Not going to be easy to get Soto that second ring for his safe. And this was only Game 1.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
