Aaron Judge showed why he’s the favorite for this year’s American League MVP award by hitting his 46th and 47th home runs of the season in the New York Yankees’ 8-1 rout of the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. However, Juan Soto’s performance at the plate was equally captivating and was enough to catch Judge’s attention.
Soto’s performances in the past two games against the Guardians served as a reminder of how special his talent is in Major League Baseball. Just ask Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who after Wednesday’s win put into perspective the fact that Soto is still just scratching the surface of his potential.
“He’s 25 years old. In many ways, he’s still in the early stages of his career,” Boone told reporters after the game. “Which is remarkable considering the experience he has. This kid is still growing and learning and developing.
“I don’t think it hurts him to have Aaron (Judge) behind him, but I think it’s just a consequence of how good of a hitter he is. I don’t think he’s necessarily focused on hitting a certain amount of home runs. You see a guy who’s obsessed with having a good at-bat, and he lives that every day.”
In the first of three games in the series against Cleveland, Soto homered to the short right-field porch in his first at-bat. In the Yankees’ win on Wednesday, he hit another homer in his first visit to the plate, this time a 427-foot, two-run shot to deep center field. That homer marked a career-high 36 for him on the season. He matched his previous career-high of 35 last season with the San Diego Padres.
“I’ve worked hard this year,” Soto told reporters after the game. “I’m more than happy to see the results and everything, and try to help the team as much as I can.”
While a career-high in home runs will undoubtedly be a highlight of Soto’s MVP-caliber season, that wasn’t necessarily his goal entering this year with the Yankees.
“The goal was definitely to be more consistent,” he said. “Not to have so many ups and downs throughout the year. To try to maintain the same line throughout the year.”
With the bases loaded Wednesday, Soto cleared the bases with a double, giving him five RBIs on the night, which matched his season high in a single game.
Judge, who is the oddsmakers’ favorite to win his second AL MVP award this year, has been hitting as well as Soto over the past two games. During this series, Judge has hit three home runs, but he says Soto gets his attention while standing in the on-deck circle.
“It’s fun for me because you see the crowd excited. They’re excited about every pitch,” Judge said. “He’s fouling off tough pitches. He’s having one great at-bat after another. It’s fun. We’re lucky to have him and we’ve got to keep pushing until the end.”
After another solid performance from Soto, Judge highlighted how “consistent” he is while sharing why he admires the star so much.
“He uses the whole field. It doesn’t matter if it’s two strikes, it doesn’t matter if it’s bases loaded, a big moment or there’s only a runner on first in the first inning. He treats every at-bat the same way,” Judge said. “Same intensity, same focus. I think that’s what’s been fun for me to watch — his level of focus throughout the game and throughout the season.”
Similarly, Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes — who had a strong outing Wednesday, pitching seven scoreless innings — believes being able to see Soto up close gives him a different appreciation for the slugger’s greatness.
“Watching him from afar is impressive because you know how good of a player he is. But seeing him here preparing every day, I think that’s what stands out the most to me, the way he prepares,” Cortes said. “People forget: he’s 25 years old. It’s pretty impressive what he’s doing, what he’s done throughout his career, and I’m sure he’s going to do very well in the future.
“But like I said, he’s 25 years old and he’s so prepared and he knows what kind of pitch he likes to hit all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s left-center field, right-center field or right field, he’s going to hit the ball hard.”