As the Yankees interpret why the first 27 innings of this season have been so different, they continue to reach one conclusion: the Juan Soto effect. Most of their at-bats have felt like a heavyweight battle, drawing straight through-lines to their new star outfielder.
Yanks feeling the Juan Soto effect: ‘We won’t give up’
Soto did almost all of it in his first series with the club, spraying line drives across the outfield while making sliding grabs and powerful throws. Now he’s also cleared the fences, belting his first Yankees homer in a 5-3 win over the Astros on Saturday evening at Minute Maid Park.
As the Yankees rallied for their third win in as many games, Soto made the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, hitting a line-drive homer in the left-field Crawford box facing reliever Brian Abreu.
Soto’s Statcast-projected 349-foot drive came three batters after Oswaldo Cabrera continued swinging at a hot bat, lifting a game-tying two-run homer over the right-field wall.
Cabrera, filling in at third base for the injured DJ LeMahieu, said Soto’s impact was immeasurable. Consider that the Yankees have walked 19 times through three games — that patient, grind-it-out quality seems to be lifted straight from Soto’s DNA.
“He’s unbelievable,” Cabrera said. “He’s not just a good baseball player. He is an amazing person off the field as well. Everyone loves the man on and off the field. When we are in the cage, I see only a hero like a child.”
Soto’s manager Aaron Boon said: “It embodies what we want to be. Every time he goes into the batter’s box, it’s a fight.”
Anthony Volpe added an eighth-inning homer as the Yankees improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2003 and won their sixth straight at Minute Maid Park, dating back to last September.
“It shows we’re not backing down from anybody,” Volpe said. “We know this is a really good team we’re playing against, but we believe in our guys. We will not give up.”
The Houston blast marked a small milestone for Soto, who hopes to complete his set of homers in every current Major League park. He never hit a regular-season blast in Houston, though he homered twice here for the Nationals during the 2019 World Series.
“If you want to keep it in the regular season, it’s checked now,” said Soto, who is 25-for-30 and can now focus on road games later in the year against the Guardians, Angels, White Sox, Rangers. and the Mariners.
Soto, who also singled and scored a run in the third inning, reached base in nine of his first 15 plate appearances as a Yankee and a career-high 36 games since Aug. 26, 2023. This is the longest active streak. Among the majors
“He’s going to be one of those guys that I talk about when I’m a grandpa, that I got to play with him,” Yankees starter Marcus Stroman said. “He’s a generational genius.”
Soto’s continued excellence overshadowed a sharp effort by Stroman, who tossed six innings in his Yankees debut.
The right-hander was charged with three unearned runs, thanks to errors by Cabrera, Volpe and Stroman — each of whom would atone in different ways.
“My biggest thing out there was trying to keep it to three runs because anybody can strike out at any time with this lineup,” said Stroman, who scattered four hits and walked two, striking out two in a 101-pitch effort (58 strikes). four
Although the Yankees worked early to take advantage of a leaky Astros bullpen in this series, their own relief crew was spotless. Ian Hamilton fired two innings, striking out a pair, and Clay Holmes worked a clean ninth for his second save.
New York’s bullpen has now tossed 11 2/3 scoreless innings to start the season — one of the few things, perhaps, it won’t credit for Soto’s presence. Although, then again…
“Look, it’s three games into a long, long season,” Boone said. “But I love our mentality, I love our competition, I love our hunger. If we can maintain this, we can be the team we want to be.”