The great Juan Soto is rubbing off on Yankees … on and off the field | ‘He’s a killer!’
These are happy times for Juan Soto and the Yankees, who have been blended well and began the season with three wins in a row over the Astros at Minute Maid Park.AP
HOUSTON — Yankees fill-in third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera was a teammate to Aaron Judge last year and for the last couple months of 2022. He adores Judge. He loves watching him hit and play the outfield.
With his trademark smile and enthusiasm in his voice, Cabrera will tell you that Judge is a great player, a great man and a great leader.Cabrera feels the same about Juan Soto, except being in his presence make him a little starstruck. Soto is only two years older than Cabrera at 25, but he’s a Dominican-born superstar who is worshiped by Latinos everywhere, including Cabrera, who comes from Venezuela.
When we are in the cage, I’m like a kid watching a big guy, a big hero,” Cabrera said Saturday night after he and Soto were the one-two punches in another Yankees comeback win over the Astros, the latest a 5-3 gut punch that has them 3-0 on the season heading into their Easter Sunday series finale.This time, Cabrera continued his coming out party by hitting a two-run, game-tying homer in the seventh that just made it over the right-field wall. Three batters later, Soto broke the tie with a pop-fly, opposite-field homer into the left field Crawford Boxes that put the Yankees ahead 4-3.Cabrera, who is 7-for-13 with two homers and six RBI in three games, credits Soto for playing a role in helping him rebound from a poor 2023 season and a 1-for-23 start to spring training.“Watching Soto in the cage, I think that’s a big key,” Cabrera said.A bunch of Yankees players have talked about Soto’s routine when he takes batting practice indoors or outside is different — Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres and Judge, among others.They knew Soto was a great hitter before he joined the Yankees from the Padres in last December’s blockbuster Winter Meetings trade, and it’s been confirmed. Soto had a great spring at the plate and he’s had a great start to the season, 6-for-12 with a homer, three RBI and three walks in three games plus a game-saving throw from right field on Opening Day and a couple good grabs in the second game.
And now, after Yankee players started getting to know what makes Soto tick during spring training, they have a better understanding why he’s such a great hitter.Here’s what Volpe has noticed:“Everything everybody else sees plus the impact that he has one everyone else. There’s stuff that people on the outside don’t see. He’s definitely a leader on the field and off the field.”One of the ways that Soto leads by example is by working walks at a higher rate than most everyone every year. His ability to lay off pitches that are just off the plate and crush mistakes always have been a big part of his success.His teammates are paying attention, asking questions to Soto on how he does it, and receiving good feedback.“He’s going to be one of those guys I’m talking about when I’m a granddad that I got to play with him,” Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman said. “You just want to be very conscious of that. He’s a generational talent. The way that he never gives away an at-bat is incredible. I feel like he never gives away a pitch.
