Aaron Judge downplays former teammate Juan Soto’s controversial Mets comment

Juan Soto recently claimed that the pitchers were attacking him differently this year as he no longer batted in front of Aaron Judge.

Aaron Judge downplays former teammate Juan Soto’s controversial Mets comment

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge (Image via Sporting News/Imago)

New York Mets’ star Juan Soto found himself in the spotlight again recently with a controversial comment. The 4-time MLB All-Star opened up about his early-season slump and claimed that the pitchers are attacking him differently this year due to him not batting ahead of “best hitter in baseball” Aaron Judge. The New York Yankees captain on Tuesday downplayed this comment from his former teammate.

Soto and Judge formed a strong attacking duo for the Yankees last season. They combined to hit 99 home runs in the regular season and helped the Yankees to a World Series berth. While Judge won the American League MVP unanimously, Soto came in third place in this race.

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In the offseason, Soto agreed on a huge 15-year $765 million deal with the Mets. Since this deal, the spotlight has been hovering around Soto with many hoping that he could help bring back the World Series championship to the Mets’ side of the town.

On Monday, Mike Puma of the New York Post asked Soto about batting without Judge behind him this season. The Dominican international expressed that he was getting fewer intentional walks and more pitches inside the strike zones while batting ahead of Judge. Things have changed this year.

A day later, Aaron Judge responded to this comment from Soto. The 2-time AL MVP backed Soto and pointed out that he has one of the best hitters in Pete Alonso behind him and expressed that he will be good.

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 him right now in what [Pete] Alonso is doing. It has been fun to watch. He’s hitting close to .400. He’s driving the ball all over the field, driving guys in. So they’re gonna be good.

Aaron Judge said as per SNY

In the 17 games he has played so far this year, Soto does have a .250 batting average with 3 home runs and 7 RBI. Meanwhile, Pete Alonso, who re-signed with the team in the offseason, is batting with a .356 average and has 5 home runs and 11 RBI in the same number of games.

WFAN radio host left irate with Juan Soto’s recent comments

Juan Soto penned down the biggest contract in MLB during the last offseason. With that heavy price tag, he has struggled a little bit at the plate. His recent comments about being attacked differently by the pitchers this year has not sat well with the fans. A WFAN radio host was left irate by his comments.

Juan Soto
Juan Soto (Image via NY Post)

While discussing his comments on the WFAN Sports Radio, host Sal Licata called out Soto. He was not pleased with the words from him and claimed that he needs to stop talking about the Yankees and move on.

Enough is enough. You’re getting paid $765 million. I don’t want to hear about all I even had as many good pitches to hit as I had with Judge… If I’m Cohen or somebody in the organization, I go to him be like look stop talking about the Yankees. It’s over.

Sal Licata said on WFAN Sports Radio

Last year, Soto crossed the 40 home run mark for the first time in his career. He managed to hit 41 regular-season home runs and had 109 RBI, the same amount he had in 2023 with the San Diego Padres, and hit with a .288 batting average. In the postseason he hit 4 more home runs.

How have the New York Mets done so far this season with Juan Soto?

Last season, the New York Mets got off to a poor start. They got hot late on and ended up reaching the National League Championship Series (NLCS) where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Compared to that start, this year they have started well with Juan Soto in their line up.

Juan Soto
Juan Soto (Image via MLB)

Despite losing 6-3 against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, the NL East sits top of their division standings with an 11-6 record. Pet Alonso and Brandon Nimmo have been two of their best hitters alongside Juan Soto with 5 and 3 home runs, respectively.

As for the pitching, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill have both done well from the mound. While Senga has an ERA of 1.06 from 3 games and has 16 strikeouts, Megill has picked up 20 strikeouts from 4 games and has pitched with a 1.40 ERA in 4 games.

The Mets will take to the field on Wednesday with the hopes of winning their 5 straight series this year. After this, they will travel to Sr. Louis to take on the St. Louis Cardinals.