Juan Soto and Aaron Judge used their dual-threat power to lead the Yankees to an 8-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night, and the left-hander set a new personal mark in the process.
Soto’s first-inning home run was his 36th this season, eclipsing the 35 he hit a year ago while with the San Diego Padres.
And with 35 games to go, there will likely be a lot more from the first-year Yankee.
After Wednesday’s win, Soto was asked if his goal this season was to hit more home runs but the career .286 hitter said it was to remain the same player he’s been over his first six seasons in the majors.
“Be more consistent,” Soto responded. “Don’t have that much ups and downs throughout the year. Try to be on the same line the whole year.”
Soto says he credits his home run barrage to the work he put in this past offseason. He says he worked to find the bat path from a year ago to maintain that consistency he’s been chasing. In 2023, Soto hit those 35 home runs while driving in 109 RBI and batting .275, up from a career-low .242.
“He’s 25. He’s still in a lot of ways in the early stages of his career which is remarkable for as much experience as he has,” Aaron Boone said of Soto’s new home run mark. “This guy is still growing and developing. It doesn’t hurt having Aaron behind him but this is just a byproduct of how great of a hitter he is. He’s not focused on hitting a certain number of home runs, you see a guy that’s obsessed with having a good at-bat and he lives that every day.”
“Every day we bring it,” Judge said of he and Soto pushing each other. “There’s a lot of guys in this clubhouse…we’re all just trying to push each other. Every time.”
Judge calls Soto one of the best hitters in the league whenever he’s asked and says he feeds off Soto every game, especially hitting behind him. As the former AL MVP puts it, he gets a front-row seat to watch Soto bat, and has grown to admire his teammate’s process.
“[Soto is] Consistent. Uses the whole field doesn’t matter if it’s two strikes, bases loaded, big spot or just runner on first in the first inning he treats every at-bat the same,” Judge explained what he admired most of Soto. “Same intensity, same focus. That’s what’s been fun for me to watch, is his level of focus throughout the game and throughout the season. Every single night he’s trying to do something special. It’s fun to watch that consistency on a daily basis.”
Judge is having a season that is eclipsing his 2022 MVP year, and instilling fear into pitchers and teams to pitch to him has benefitted Soto, especially Wednesday.
Gleyber Torres led off the first with a single allowing Soto to be aggressive against starter Joey Cantillo, as the young lefty wouldn’t want to walk the left-hander and bring up Judge. Soto jumped on the first pitch, a 92 mph fastball over the plate, and planted it 427 feet over the center field wall.
In the fourth, with the bases loaded and two outs, he felt he was in control as he knew Cantillo didn’t want to walk in a run and deal with Judge. That allowed him to work the count full before slapping a changeup down the left field line to clear the bases and put the game away.
With Soto and Judge carrying this Yankees offense, Soto was posed the same question as his teammate: “What do you admire about Judge the most, offensively?”
Soto waited a beat before answering.
“I would say his power. It’s incredible and the consistency that he has. That’s one of the things I admire most. It doesn’t matter if the game’s 10 runs up or 10 runs down, he’s going to take a great at-bat and do damage to the other team…and I try to do the same thing.”
After Wednesday’s win, the Yankees are now in first place in the AL East and have the best record in the league. If Soto and Judge continue to push each other to be better, the Yankees might be able to call themselves the best in MLB come October.
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