Juan Soto did not see eye-to-eye with a reporter after the New York Mets’ Monday contest against the Boston Red Sox.
The Mets lost to the Red Sox 3-1 in a low-scoring affair at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. Neither team scored any runs after the first three innings.
Soto thought he broke the scoring drought to lead off the sixth inning. After working a full count, he smashed a pitch to left field and skipped out of the batter’s box, believing he had just hit a home run. But the ball slammed into the Green Monster, and right into the hands of left fielder Jarren Duran. Soto was limited to a single.
After the game, Soto was asked by a reporter about whether or not he needs to be “more aware” of his hustle out of the batter’s box. The Mets superstar didn’t see things that way.
Reporter: “The last couple of nights, you’ve had a couple of plays where you were slow getting out of the box. Is that something you have to be more aware of?”
Soto: “No. I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard. If you see it today, you could tell.”
Juan Soto was asked about not hustling out of the box last night vs. the Yankees and tonight vs. the Red Sox
“I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard. If you see it today, you could tell” pic.twitter.com/vOmQivgtZR
https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1924643703840244138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1924643703840244138%7Ctwgr%5E82854dfe7fc6e9949766b3114bcd7427d984f62e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flarrybrownsports.com%2Fbaseball%2Fjuan-soto-mets-green-monster-lack-of-hustle%2F698556
The 26-year-old did end up stealing second base a few pitches later. But the Mets failed to drive him in as their bats went mostly silent the rest of the way.
While Soto didn’t see anything wrong with his sense of urgency, his manager seemed to disagree. Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the game that he planned to “talk to” Soto about the issue in private.
Amid growing concerns that Soto has lacked enthusiasm for his new team, his latest on-field issue, although seemingly minor, is not a good look.
