2 weeks Ago
It's no secret that a big factor in New York Mets slugger Juan Soto's free agency decision this past offseason was having protection behind him in the lineup of whichever team he ended up with. This is largely because Soto thrived with 2024 AL MVP Aaron Judge hitting behind him on the New York Yankees last season. And while Soto ultimately chose Queens instead of returning to the Bronx, the Mets making a concerted effort to re-sign Pete Alonso seems like it was vital to Soto's decision.
Not only did the Mets re-sign Alonso, but the Polar Bear has arguably been baseball's best hitter to this point in the season. Soto, however, isn't performing up to his usual lofty standards. Read more: Mets legend assesses reason for Juan Soto's slow start And an April 15 article from SNY (which quoted an April 14 interview between Soto and Mike Puma of the New York Post) showed that Soto thinks who's hitting behind him is factoring into his struggles.
“It’s definitely different,” Soto said to Puma of last season compared to this year. “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.
I was pitched differently last year.” Aaron Judge was asked about Soto's comments on April 15 and didn't seem to agree with the sentiment. “I’m not really going to go back and forth with this.
He’s got probably one of the best hitters in the game behind right now in what Alonso is doing. It has been fun to watch. [Alonso is] hitting close to .
400. He’s driving the ball to all over the field, driving guys in," Judge said, per an X post from SNY's Andy Martino. It sounds like Judge isn't buying his former teammate's excuse — and rightfully so, considering what Alonso has done to this point.
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