New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge issued a response after former teammate Juan Soto caused a furor with some controversial comments.
In an interview with Mike Puma of the New York Post, Soto admitted that playing with the Mets has been “different” without having Judge hitting behind him. Soto said he was being pitched differently without Judge posing such a threat behind him.
“It’s definitely different,” Soto said. “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.”
Some felt that the comments indicated Soto had some buyer’s remorse about joining the Mets instead of remaining with the Yankees. When asked about it Tuesday, however, Judge refused to take the bait, pointing out that Soto still has a formidable slugger in Pete Alonso hitting behind him.
“I’m not going to go back-and-forth with this,” Judge said. “He’s got one of the best hitters in the game hitting behind him in Alonso.”
Judge on Soto: “ I’m not going to go back-and-forth with this …. He’s got one of the best hitters in the game hitting behind him in Alonso”. #RepBX
— Danielle McCartan from WFAN (@CoachMcCartan) April 15, 2025
Soto’s comments caused some drama among Mets fans and writers. Judge knows better than to let the Yankees get involved in that narrative.
Presumably, Soto knew that losing Judge as a teammate might have some minor impacts on his numbers. His relatively slow start might exacerbate the concerns, as he is hitting a modest .250 with two home runs through 16 games entering play Tuesday.
On the other hand, Soto hit in front of someone other than Judge for the vast majority of his career, and has done just fine for himself. Judge knows that too, and he is not going to take any shots at his former teammate, even if there were some indications that Soto’s departure had some awkwardness surrounding it.
