Juan Soto to the Yankees!

Yeah, and how long has Mr. Foxx been deceased?   

theathletic.com/5120987/2023/12/08/juan-soto-stats-yankees-2024/?source=freeweeklyemail&campaign=602288

A nice run down of his numbers. His base running above average is minus -3, which is better that the -4 of Gleyber Torres and the -5 of DJ LeMahieu.

Also, for Soto’s OBP to dip below .400, he would have to not reach base for the next 179 plate appearances!

Why does that last number seem more reasonable given last year’s Yankees hitting?

And so we discover that he has a couple of warts and maybe a boil on his ass. We also know he’s in his walk year, so just maybe we’ll get the very best out of him this year, at least.

I’m curious as to how the Yanks will line Soto and Judge up. I think I’d bat Judge second vs. LHP and third vs. RHP, but I don’t think it matters much. I do wish we could find a way to move Gleyber down to 5th. Another big bat would be sweet…

We already knew the warts.  The numbers indicate that his warts are not any worse (and even better) than the mainstays on this team, like Gleyber and DJ, et al.  Also, his defense was better when he first came into the league, leading me to believe that at age 25, his decline is not age or wear and tear, but the lack of practice and focus on fundamentals that offensive players are allowed once they get into the big leagues.  Boone's "They're professionals" credo, albeit false.  In other words, there is little reason other than motivation or some external contract incentive that would allow him to become at least a league average fielder or better if he is prepared to prepare to be an all-around giant of the game with no weaknesses.  

"Soto — according to Statcast — hit 196 batted balls into the air last season, through either line drives or fly balls. Just 49 (25 percent) went to right field. The majority (86, or about 44 percent) went to center, while 61 (about 31 percent) went to left field, areas that are deeper at the Stadium."

I really don't care if Soto never surpasses 50, 40, or even 30 home runs, as long as he continues to hit to all fields, has a high OBP with more walks than strikeouts, and drives in runs. Right field in Yankee Stadium can become a siren song for foul line to foul line hitters trying to take advantage of the short porch and boost their home run total. We have enough all or nothing hitters, and lately it has been more nothing.

He can still “take advantage” of the short porch enough without an entire change of approach. The great ones can. As an exemplar, I offer Don Mattingly, and I’ll raise you Brett Gardner… and Curtis Granderson. I hope he slightly raises his percent of balls pulled to RF, but of course we don’t want to see that OBP go down, and we’d love to see him back in the batting title chase.

It’ll be exciting to see how he handles this opportunity… If he hits .240 with a .330 OBP I might jump off a bridge. Maybe a two foot high one into a foot of water, but a bridge none the less…

Color me skeptical.  To me, Mattingly and Gardner were Yankees their entire careers, so there was no history of being established big league line-to-line hitters then traded to the Yankees and learning how to utilize right field without any drop-off to the opposite field and in batting average and OBP.  

Mattingly hit 23 homers in his first full season in MLB at age 23, so more than likely he just became a bit stronger as he matured (prior to the injuries) and saw regular playing time, rather than learning some new skill to pull the ball at Yankee Stadium.  Mattingly was a hitting savant who put the ball in play and hit the ball where it was pitched.  He wasn't bailing to pull the ball ever.

Brett may have had five home runs left of centerfield his entire career, with an ugly, mechanical swing with nearly zero power to the opposite field.  He had no choice but to try to pull the ball, which did lead to a drop in his batting average and OBP after focusing more to get the ball out of the park.  He would have been more useful in the mindset of a slasher to all fields who needed to steal bases.  After he began pulling the ball, his stolen base totals plummeted and he never saw a .270 BA again.  And, his one year with 28 home runs was 2019, so we have to take that golf ball year with some caution.  

Granderson was a pull hitter before the Yankees, with the Yankees, and after the Yankees - the park was an advantage for the swing he already had.  

So, I hope that Soto stays with what has him being compared up to age 24 with DiMaggio, Musial, etc. and not change his swing a la Giambi and Teixeira to take advantage of right field, and in so doing becoming less of an all around player in Pinstripes than both were before.