NEW YORK — Juan Soto isn’t off to a blazing-hot start with the New York Mets, but if he’s feeling out of sorts – well, Aaron Judge has a friendly tip.
“He can look at what I did last April, for kind of an example of (how) he just needs to keep being himself,’’ said the New York Yankees’ captain of his sluggish 2024 start. “He’s going to be just fine.
Soto is still getting on base at a .400 clip, though his production numbers – two homers, six RBI – have drawn notice through 16 games after signing a $765 million free-agent deal with the Mets.
Last year, his lone pinstriped season, Soto finished third in the AL MVP award voting, batting directly ahead of Judge, the league’s MVP.
Speaking with the New York Post’s Mike Puma, Soto said “it’s definitely different’’ the way he’s been pitched so far in 2025.
‘I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me. I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that,’ Soto said.
Made aware of Soto’s comments to the Post, Judge referenced Pete Alonso’s start, batting .345 with a 1.137 OPS while hitting right after Soto.
“He’s got probably one of the best hitters in the game behind him right now with what Alonso is doing. It’s been fun to watch,’’ said Judge. “He’s hitting close to .400 and driving the ball all over the field, driving guys in. So, they’re going to be just fine.’’
That’s how it turned out for Judge in 2024, after taking a .197 batting average and .725 OPS into May, with just six homers and 18 RBI over his first 33 games.
Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Royals, Judge was batting .367 with six homers, 20 RBI, and a 1.212 OPS in his first 16 games.
These days, Judge finds himself mostly batting between the hot-hitting Ben Rice and the accomplished Cody Bellinger, part of an offense that led the majors in home runs (32) and OPS (.844) so far.
“You can’t replace a guy like Soto. He’s one of one. That’s why he signed the deal he did,’’ said Judge, who then praised the rapid gains made by Rice and the acquisitions of Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt as key developments in the Yanks’ Soto-less 2025 lineup.
“This is a big year for a lot of our young guys to step up and do something big and kind of help carry this team,’’ said Judge, adding that, “we’ve just got a really, really complete team right now.’’