In the lead-up to the Subway Series, his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since leaving the New York Yankees for the New York Mets, Juan Soto anticipated that the scene would be “50,000 against one.”
As hard as it is to believe, that may have been an understatement.
Over the course of the three-game series—and especially throughout Friday’s series-opener—Soto faced a deluge of boos and profane chants from Yankees fans, who even literally turned their backs to the Mets slugger as he jogged out to take his position in right field at one point.
But Mets manager Carlos Mendoza doesn’t believe Soto was fazed by the angry mob of Yankees fans.
“I don’t think so,” Mendoza said. “I said it before the game—he embraced it. He knew what was coming and he didn’t change. Even though today was pretty much the only game where we didn’t see results. The past couple of games, he was on-base half of the at-bats… You just got to give credit to their pitching staff. Especially a guy like [Max] Fried today.
“But overall, I thought he handled it well. This loud maybe was new but he’s an elite player. Only elite players are the ones that are getting booed everywhere they go. I’m pretty sure Boston—I don’t think it’s going to be as loud as they were here, but he’ll hear it.”
Soto went 1-for-10 with four walks, a pair of runs scored and one hit across the three games against the Yankees. The Yankees pitching staff appeared to approach Soto cautiously on Friday night, then a bit more aggressively in Sunday’s series-finale, in which Soto struck out twice. Soto also chipped in a pair of stolen bases, though he did draw criticism for his apparent lack of hustle on a ground ball to second baseman DJ LeMahieu in the top of the eighth inning.
Thus far in 2025, Soto has posted a .246/.379/.443 slash line with eight home runs, 20 RBI and 33 runs scored. The next time the Mets and Yankees play—on Fourth of July weekend—Soto will be received much more warmly, as the games will be played at Citi Field.
