Juan Soto is preparing to return to Yankee Stadium for the first time since he left the New York Yankees in free agency, and there is a chance he might not receive a warm reception from the home fans. The New York Mets slugger insists he is fine with that.
The Mets will begin a three-game series with the Yankees on Friday night. Following the Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Soto was asked about the potential of being booed and worse when he takes the field in the Bronx. He had a very simple response.
“I don’t mind,” Soto said, via Will Sammon and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
Soto left the Yankees over the winter to sign a $765 million contract with their cross-state rival. He said previously that he was “expecting the worst” when he returned to Yankee Stadium as a member of the Mets.
If Soto does receive a hostile reception, his teammates are not expecting it to impact him.
“His focus is going to be to put up good at-bats,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “He’s always able to lock it in in those big moments. It’ll be fun to watch him.”
Soto played just one season with the Yankees, so fans don’t have the type of connection to him that they do with other great players who spent time in pinstripes and then left. Though, Soto did have a great year and help lead the team to the World Series. He batted .288 with 31 doubles, 41 home runs and a .989 OPS while leading the league with 128 runs scored.
If the modification one Yankees fan made to his Soto jersey on Opening Day is a sign of things to come, Soto should be ready for the boo birds.
