Juan Soto's first at-bat with the Yankees ended with him crumpled in a heap at the plate. All was lost, if your brain is addled with a decade's worth of unnecessary worries. Surely, he didn't manage to redeem himself before the game had ended.
Hopefully, everyone stayed tuned for Soto's third (and final) at-bat of the day, when he shook off a winter's worth of rust and exploded a baseball into deep left-center.
With two on and two men out in the fourth inning and many of the Yankees' starters subbing out, Soto stuck around for one last chance, waiting on a Trevor Richards breaker and depositing it somewhat effortlessly 400+ feet away, claing the blast off the scoreboard.
Opposite field home runs don't get served up to the crowd much cleaner than that.
Soto to the Scoreboard 🚀 pic.twitter.com/bzXOotxBik
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 25, 2024
Yankees slugger Juan Soto drills home run in spring training debut
In case your appetite for Yankees baseball wasn't whetted enough already, allow Soto to -- finally -- introduce himself.
For those wondering, that rocketed 110.1 MPH off the bat and traveled 428 feet, a long way from home.
So far, Soto's enjoyed the No. 2 hole, protecting Aaron Judge twice (2-for-2 with a ringing double and gapper single), as well as Spencer Jones in a potential 2025 preview (he, too, singled). More data is needed before Aaron Boone and Co. can determine Soto's comfort level with the currently aligned lineup, but Sunday marked a pretty great starter after an initial swing-related speed bump.
Carlos Rodón also debuted on Sunday, and though he pitched 2.2 solid innings (five strikeouts, nearly touched 96 MPH by topping out at 95.9), he exited on a low note, surrendering a home run on a cutter before departing at 48 pitches. Soto? He, luckily, was given a chance to finish strong and delivered. Looking forward to the curtain call.