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Juan Soto Had an Unusual Question for Catcher During His At-Bat

Soto and the Mets earned a much-needed victory while having some fun.
Juan Soto hit his first home run since returning to the Mets lineup as part of an 8-0 win.
Juan Soto hit his first home run since returning to the Mets lineup as part of an 8-0 win. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

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The Mets have not a lot of reasons to smile and laugh through the first month of the season. A dreadful start has put them miles behind in the National League East and there's widespread speculation that manager Carlos Mendoza could potentially find himself in the same situation as Alex Cora and Rob Thomson. But Tuesday night was a legitimately good time for the the home side at Citi Field as New York cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Nationals.

Clay Holmes turned in another dazzling start and Juan Soto hit his first home run since returning from an injury that kept him out of the lineup for nearly three weeks. Soto's two-run shot was a reminder of what he's bringing to the table and seeing a .300 average and .867 OPS on the scoreboard when he bats might go a long way in cooling down Mets fans on the ledge.

As is often the case, Soto was caught just having fun out there during an at-bat in the seventh inning. After getting the count 3-0 in his favor, the slugger asked Nationals catcher Drew Millas if he should take the next pitch or swing away.

Soto went on to take the next two pitches before eventually flying out to left field.

It's a little thing. The Mets are still 10-19 this morning and no closer to the red-hot Braves in the division. But it has to be worth something to have some positive energy out there on the field and the best player on the roster leading the charge to smile a bit more. A few more wins and a prolonged stretch of above-.500 play would make that attitude contagious.


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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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