As the crack of Juan Soto’s bat began to blend with the sound of a roaring stadium on Wednesday night, the Yankees slugger followed through on his swing and leaned backwards so that he could watch his work.
It’s not unusual for Soto to admire the damage he does, but the slight tilt indicated that even he was impressed with a two-run, opposite field homer that traveled 440 feet at 113.4 mph. The blast off Spencer Arrighetti’s fastball quickly erased a 1-0 Astros lead — and exemplified why Aaron Boone described each of Soto’s at-bats as “theatrical.”
“It’s a show. You can feel the energy of the crowd,” the manager said before the Yankees’ 9-4 win. “Literally every pitch, it’s theater.”
Juan Soto goes 440 feet to give the @Yankees the lead! pic.twitter.com/LgNUfHH0Hk
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2024
Indeed, the Bronx has turned to Broadway whenever Soto steps to the plate. None of the adoring fans in attendance want to miss a pitch, as Soto never takes one off. Boone described that approach as “relentless,” adding that the 25-year-old treats each at-bat like a “war” that pitchers seem to lose more often than not.
“Something special is gonna happen,” Aaron Judge said after the game. “You just don’t know when it is. Is it going to be on the first pitch like he did today in the first at-bat? Or is it going to be a seven-to-eight-pitch at-bat battling tough pitches, and then he comes up with an RBI double? You just never know what’s gonna happen.”
An impending free agent, Soto is now batting .338 with a 1.023 OPS after going 3-for-5 with five RBI on Wednesday. The right fielder, who picked up additional ribbies on an infield single, a groundout and a single, is leading the Yankees with nine home runs and 33 RBI.
Naturally, he’s pretty pleased with his swing.
“All the work we’ve been putting in is paying off,” Soto said. “I feel like when I’m hitting the ball that way, I’m in my best path and my swing is in the best spot. It’s everything that I’ve been asking for with all my practices and everything. So whenever I’m hitting the ball [the other] way, I just feel I’m locked in.”
Soto has been especially focused with runners in scoring position, as he is hitting .448 with a 1.342 OPS, three homers and 25 RBI in those situations.
Because the patient Soto views every at-bat as a battle, those pressure-packed moments become even harder for pitchers as they try to navigate traffic.
“When there’s runners on and you got Soto coming up with a baserunner on second, it makes it tough because of the plate discipline where he’s gonna lay off strike-to-ball breaking balls and even borderline pitches that you know he’s not swinging at,” Carlos Rodón explained. “It makes it tough to attack the zone on a guy like that because pitches in the zone to him, they seem like they’re barreled or they’re hard hit.
“When you’re pitching against Juan Soto, you’re never really doubling up on pitches… You’re bouncing back and forth between pitches and locations. Unless you have elite command, that’s hard to do.”
While Soto has been the Yankees’ leading man in the early going this season, Judge has been heating up at the plate. That continued on Wednesday, as the center fielder hit his eighth homer of the season, a solo shot, in the third inning.
The captain added two doubles, including a sixth-inning knock that drove in two.
“Judge has been locked in the last couple days,” Soto said, even though Judge, now hitting .236, has downplayed that narrative. “I’m really excited for that. I can’t wait to see him going crazy like today.
“If he’s not locked in, it’s gonna be great.”
Aaron Judge is on 🔥@SportsonPrime pic.twitter.com/LAySiF8UcP
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 8, 2024
While Soto and Judge were the first to go yard off Arrighetti, it was Giancarlo Stanton who brought the fireworks in the third inning.
For the second straight night, Stanton recorded the hardest-hit homer in the majors this season. After drilling a 118.8-mph missile on Tuesday, his latest longball traveled 447 feet at 119.9 mph before landing in the second deck in left field.
“If you hit one 120, you win,” Boone declared when asked which Wednesday home run impressed him the most.
119.9 MPH off the bat for Giancarlo Stanton. Sheesh! 😳 pic.twitter.com/VGbjxCbdGo
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2024
However, the manager noted that all of the Yankees’ homers were “put into orbit.”
Boone had previously said that Soto and Judge homering in the same game made him feel “warm and fuzzy, kind of like some hot chocolate on a cold day.” That was a few weeks back on a chilly April night.
With Stanton joining the mix on a warmer May evening, Boone didn’t have any clever quips when it came to his feelings. Still, he was thrilled to see all three dinger.
“I didn’t need the hot cocoa tonight,” Boone said with a laugh. “It was perfect weather out. But that certainly puts a smile on your face when those three guys do that.”
With their biggest bats leading the way, the Yankees’ bombarded an Astros starter for the second time in as many games. Meanwhile, Rodón quietly bounced back after suffering a similar fate in Baltimore on May 2.
The lefty gave up six earned runs in that game, but he held Houston to two on Wednesday. The first came from Kyle Tucker, who hit a first-inning solo homer for the second day in a row. The second run came on a Jake Meyers double in the seventh.
Rodón also totaled 6.1 innings, seven hits, zero walks and seven strikeouts over 100 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 3.56.
“He had a lot of swing and miss going,” Boone said. “I thought he did a good job — a better job maybe than he’s done all year — of really dictating some counts.”
Added Rodón: “That makes it a lot easier to pitch when you have a nice lead and you just go attack the zone. Yeah, it’s nice when they do that. They’re pretty good, huh?”
Victor González later surrendered a solo homer to Jeremy Peña in the eighth, while Jose Altuve singled home a run off Ian Hamilton in the ninth. However, a true comeback attempt never materialized after the Yankees fell a run short of double-digits for the second time this series.
“I know it’s not gonna be easy to do that every night,” Soto said of the offense, “but definitely, we’re really capable of doing that and more in the days coming.”
With Soto and a deep supporting cast having secured a series victory, the Yankees will go for their second sweep of the Astros this season on Thursday.
Marcus Stroman is scheduled to start the game, which begins at 5:05 p.m. Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his first start of the season, will take the ball for Houston.
