It has been impossible to digest any baseball news over the past 48 hours without seeing all kinds of negative things about Juan Soto. He’s miserable. He wanted to stay with the Yankees. He doesn’t hustle. The completely made-up story by Boomer Esiason about him flying on a private jet.
small quibble, but the lack of hustle on the single off the wall yesterday in a vacuum could be forgiven or entirely ignored. but it came on the heels of soto also failing to bust it out of the box the night before in a key situation, 8th inning, on a ball that it looked like he assumed would go through to the outfield. good chance he beats the throw to first if he Nimmo's or Acuna's it right away.
I agree with the fact that the narrative around Soto is getting tiresome and ridiculous. It is, as you mentioned, being driven by Yankee fans, including Michael Kay. They cannot accept the fact that a player chose the Mets over them, but that's their issue, not ours. I forgot how much I dislike the subway series, as the narrative and stories take away from the fact that there is a baseball game being played.
In terms of Soto's hustle, I have to disagree with giving him a pass because he likely would have been out if he tried for a double. Regardless of whether he would have been able to make it safely to second, he has an obligation to bust it out of the box. The ball was played quickly off of the wall, so he could have stopped at first anyway, but not hustling is inexcusable.
this is my thinking as well. when you sign a contract like he has, everything is magnified. fans will forgive poor results if they see a player going all out for his team and for them.
Maybe so on the ball off the Green Monster, but Alonso also didn't bust out of the box on a similar hit and was thrown out at 2B. And he's slower than Soto. Where's the criticism of Pete's behavior?
Of course, Soto should have run hard on the grounder to the 2Bman in the Yankees game.
Yeah I am not paying too much attention to what the media is saying about Juan Soto. It is mainly based on what I am observing. He is still a really good hitter but he isn’t doing as great lately, but I think he will be OK. When it comes to the field, though they were a few times in that series against the Yankees where the ball was a little away from him and he had to chase after it and it looked like on TV that he was running at half speed. I mean, that is concerning considering that he is the best paid player in baseball right now. I really like him though and I hope he gets his mojo back.
Hey Joe! I’m soooo glad that you wrote this. I feel like my head is going to explode with the Soto narratives.
small quibble, but the lack of hustle on the single off the wall yesterday in a vacuum could be forgiven or entirely ignored. but it came on the heels of soto also failing to bust it out of the box the night before in a key situation, 8th inning, on a ball that it looked like he assumed would go through to the outfield. good chance he beats the throw to first if he Nimmo's or Acuna's it right away.
I agree with the fact that the narrative around Soto is getting tiresome and ridiculous. It is, as you mentioned, being driven by Yankee fans, including Michael Kay. They cannot accept the fact that a player chose the Mets over them, but that's their issue, not ours. I forgot how much I dislike the subway series, as the narrative and stories take away from the fact that there is a baseball game being played.
In terms of Soto's hustle, I have to disagree with giving him a pass because he likely would have been out if he tried for a double. Regardless of whether he would have been able to make it safely to second, he has an obligation to bust it out of the box. The ball was played quickly off of the wall, so he could have stopped at first anyway, but not hustling is inexcusable.
this is my thinking as well. when you sign a contract like he has, everything is magnified. fans will forgive poor results if they see a player going all out for his team and for them.
100% I am tired of the media harping on what Soto is and isn't doing.
I love Soto, but, he hit a ground ball to second and he trotted 15 feet before he sped up. Im an old school baseball purist. Hustle and run to first.
He didn't bust out of the box. If it turned out that he settled got a single, so be it. At least he would have hustled. It was bad optics.
Maybe so on the ball off the Green Monster, but Alonso also didn't bust out of the box on a similar hit and was thrown out at 2B. And he's slower than Soto. Where's the criticism of Pete's behavior?
Of course, Soto should have run hard on the grounder to the 2Bman in the Yankees game.
Yeah I am not paying too much attention to what the media is saying about Juan Soto. It is mainly based on what I am observing. He is still a really good hitter but he isn’t doing as great lately, but I think he will be OK. When it comes to the field, though they were a few times in that series against the Yankees where the ball was a little away from him and he had to chase after it and it looked like on TV that he was running at half speed. I mean, that is concerning considering that he is the best paid player in baseball right now. I really like him though and I hope he gets his mojo back.