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Juan Soto Roasted by Fans for Baffling Move During At Bat in Yankees-Mets

This was an odd decision from the Mets star.

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @Ben_Yoel
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The season's first Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets was unsurprisingly centered on one player: Juan Soto.

Soto, who left the Yankees for their crosstown rivals last offseason, definitely heard the boos and jeers in his highly anticipated return to the Bronx this past week. The $765 million Mets slugger struggled at the plate through three games against his former team, going 1-for-10 with just two runs, and there was a notable moment during Sunday night's rubber match when Soto made a decision that left fans totally baffled.

With the game tied 2–2 at the top of the eighth, Soto hit a groundout fielded by Yankees' D.J. LeMahieu, who then made a nifty throw from down on his knees to get the out.

However, a closer look at the video curiously shows that Soto didn't really hustle to first base after his hit—he was caught ball-watching and leisurely jogged for a few seconds before turning up the pace about a third of the way down the base path. Had Soto run hard out of the box, he may have been safe.

MLB fans—many of whom were perhaps slightly bitter Yankees supporters—were quick to point out Soto's concerning lack of effort during a critical play late in the game.

The Yankees would go on to win 8–2, and walk away with their first Subway Series victory of the year, taking two of three games in the Bronx.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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