Juan Soto’s Yankee Stadium home debut had a little bit of everything — except offense.
The newest Yankees star was greeted loudly in right field by the sold out crowd in The Bronx and responded to the Bleacher Creatures’ roll call by turning to the right field stands, taking his cap off and bowing to the crowd.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Soto said after a 3-0 loss to Toronto. “I wanted to give them thanks first.”
He chatted with the fans throughout the game, used “Empire State of Mind” as one of his four walk-up songs and even donned custom-made New York City-themed cleats that included the Manhattan skyline and the subway stop for Yankee Stadium.
But the rest of the afternoon did not go as planned, as Soto went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.
After the second whiff that ended the bottom of the eighth, a frustrated Soto slammed his helmet and tossed his bat in anger.
“It’s tough,” Soto said of his reaction. “The frustration comes out. You want to do something to get the team going, and I had a chance to do it and didn’t get it done.”
But it’s clear that he’s ready to embrace his new home and Yankees fans are prepared to welcome Soto, who arrived in a trade from the Padres in the offseason.
“There was a lot of anticipation,” Aaron Boone said of Soto’s home debut. “It was good to see how fans reacted to it. We didn’t get much going offensively, nor did Juan today. It was just one of those days.”
Soto is 1-for-16 with no extra base hits in his last four games after his torrid first four games of the year, when he was 9-for-17 with a double, a homer and four RBIs.
Asked about the “bond” Soto already has with the New York fans, Boone said, “I think it’s too early to say a bond has happened. We just got here.”
But he expects it to develop quickly.
“Obviously, with the Dominican population in The Bronx and New York, it feels like a match made in heaven,” Boone said. “Let’s evaluate the relationship down the line a little bit. … [But] I can’t imagine him not being loved, with the way he goes about things and the type of player he is.”
The 25-year-old said he wasn’t bothered by nerves in the leadup to the game.
“I slept like a baby [Thursday] night,” Soto said. “I was excited to come over here and see what it looks like. I couldn’t wait to see the fans.”
Batting second in the order, behind Gleyber Torres and in front of Aaron Judge, Soto drilled a 112-mph groundout to second in the first, struck out in the second and popped out in the sixth as part of a lineup that generated just six hits and was blanked for the second time in three games.
“I’m looking forward to having him out there again [Saturday],” Boone said.
