San Diego Padres fans are still bitter about the way the Juan Soto era ended after a season and a half of service.
With the New York Yankees in town this weekend and Soto now wearing pinstripes, Padres fans wanted to make their feelings known for the superstar.
After receiving cheers from the Petco Park crowd following his first strikeout of the at-bat, Soto was booed when he was introduced for his second at-bat during the Yankees’ 8-0 win on Friday.
To the surprise of no one, the man who hit .315 was unaffected by the crowd’s displeasure and proceeded to send Yu Darvish’s second pitch 450 feet.
“I didn’t expect any cheers or boos, but they did both,” Soto said. who could be a free agent in the winter. “I was in the middle of it. That was pretty cool. That’s fine. I don’t mind it at all.”
Soto started a rough inning for Darvish. After his home run, Aaron Judge hit his 16th blast of the season. Two batters later, Giancarlo Stanton sent his 13th of the year out of the yard to make it 6-0 Yankees.
The game was Soto’s first in San Diego since a Dec. 7 trade that sent him to New York. He’s off to a blazing start for the AL East-leading Yankees with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs.
“It’s kind of hard for me because they were there for me every day,” Soto said before Friday’s game, via The Athletic. “And I did my best. I played hard every day. But I wasn’t playing my best. That’s one of the things I was a little sad about, because I couldn’t really show them how great I can be. But it is what it is. I feel really good that I get the opportunity to give 100 percent. But I don’t know how they’re going to react. It’s baseball, it’s crazy. I expect everything tonight.”
In 214 games with the Padres over parts of two seasons, Soto hit 41 home runs and drove in 125 runs while hitting .265. He did help the team reach the 2022 NLCS, where they fell to the Philadelphia Phillies, but they followed that up by finishing third in the NL West last season and missing the playoffs.
“To me, it’s just baseball,” Soto said. “I think I had a great time in San Diego. We had a great group in 2023. I just think it’s baseball. At the end of the day, even if you have the best team on paper, you have to go out and try to win games. But things happen. In 2023, luck was not on our side. We’ve had some games where we couldn’t do anything. But it is what it is. Now that is a thing of the past.”
Soto’s future is still in question as he is expected to earn a huge contract with his current deal set to expire after this season. The Yankees have said they want him to stay, but money will talk and it will be up to Hal Steinbrenner to decide if Soto’s desired dollar figure and term match what the club has in mind.
