Everything went as it should have, and Juan Soto took his second official appearance with the New York Mets in stride, after the Opening Day loss to the Houston Astros. The Dominican struck out in his first at-bat on Friday night at Minute Maid Park in the Texas city, before hitting an impressive home run in his second at-bat.
After connecting his first home run with the Mets, Juan Soto mentioned that he does not feel the pressure to have a good performance after signing his impressive contract: “Just thinking about what we can do and what we can be capable of doing as a team takes all the pressure off me. Because we’re here. We’re the New York Mets. I mean, we’re not here like the Juan Soto Mets. We’re here as a team,” he said.
Soto’s home run helped the victory over the Astros
The hit came in the third inning. With two outs and no men on base, Soto hit a 1-2 pitch from Hunter Brown deep to right field to give New York a 3-0 lead. “It was incredible. It’s not easy. It’s a pitch that’s out of the strike zone, up and in. I think it’s a 96 cutter and he’s able to hit it and hit it on a line like that; yes, incredible,” said manager Carlos Mendoza.
Soto, 26, watched the ball as it headed for the outfield and then began to slowly walk toward first base before lightly tossing the bat. The home run traveled 390 feet. He smiled slightly as he began to round the bases before pounding his chest and raising both hands to the sky as he reached home.
Sweet World Series memories
When asked if he knew right away that it was gone, Soto smiled and said: “One hundred percent. It’s something about this ballpark. I have really good memories of it, years ago. I feel really good playing here.” Soto was surely referring to the memories of the World Series won by the Washington Nationals in 2019, precisely in that ballpark, against their rivals in this series with which the Mets open activities in the season.
Soto’s first home run of the season comes after he hit a career-high 41 with the Yankees last season, but this one feels different: “It’s always great to have the first one. You always want to get the first one out of the way early,” said a proud Soto, who will look to keep adding to his tally on Saturday in the series finale at Minute Maid Park.*With information from Lapresse
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