00:00We now look at Major League Baseball with Mark Zitto.
00:03Of course, this past weekend, Zitto, rivalry weekend in the bigs.
00:07And for you, a Yankees fan and supporter, a big weekend in the Bronx
00:12between the Yanks and the Mets in the first Subway Series of 2025
00:15and the return of Juan Soto to his former home for a year inside Yankee Stadium.
00:21Not a great weekend set for Soto.
00:24Booed a ton in his opening at-bat on Friday night up in the Bronx.
00:29Not really a great year for Juan Soto so far, the $700 million man for the New York Mets.
00:36The season stats for Soto, only eight home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .243 batting average.
00:44Last night, they tried to move him around a little bit in the lineup.
00:48Did Carlos Mendoza and the Amazons having Soto bat third.
00:52He was 0-3 at the dish with three strikeouts.
00:56Did record an RBI on a sack fly.
00:59So, Zitto, what have you made of Juan Soto's struggle so far in his first year with the Mets?
01:05That Aaron Judge guy is pretty good, and he's nice to have batting in front of you.
01:09That helps.
01:10I mean, it's undeniable at this point in time that Soto's amazing year last year
01:16that, by most accounts, would have won MVP across the board.
01:19Only finished second to a guy who hit 60 home runs or nearly 60 home runs again.
01:24So, the point simply is here is that it's a different environment here with the Mets.
01:29Look, I think the Mets and their fans are kind of looking at this the wrong way.
01:33I don't know.
01:33I'm still a huge – no, listen, I can burn my Juan Soto MVP ticket because he's not going to win the MVP.
01:38That said, I still think they're looking at this wrong like, hey, guess what?
01:44We're in first place.
01:46We are a really good team.
01:48We are scoring runs regardless.
01:50And our best player, our best hitter is still only batting 243 with eight home runs.
01:55Juan Soto is going to get hot again.
01:57Like, he's going to come around.
01:58He's always done that.
02:00He's too good of a hitter and too good of a player not to.
02:03Does it look even worse when you're not running out balls that you thought were home runs?
02:07Okay, yeah, it does.
02:09There's a litany of guys who have done that in Major League Baseball.
02:11People need to get over this at this point in time.
02:14Look, I am all for the get your ass out of the box and run down the line, right?
02:17Give me the Derek Jeter over everybody.
02:19But the idea that we're going to get upset like this doesn't happen routinely,
02:24and I watch it here in Atlanta regardless with Ronald Acuna, you have to live with it.
02:29Some guys are just that way.
02:30Not everybody's going to be put their head down to run to first base.
02:33That's just the reality of some guys.
02:35You're never going to force them to be somebody different.
02:37But you can't, like, crucify the guy and write him off as a bad signing,
02:42especially at the contract you paid him, because they didn't run out of ball to first base.
02:46I still think the Mets are going to win this division.
02:48I still think Juan Soto is going to have a more than respectable year.
02:51He's still going to end up with 35 bombs on the year and driving close to 100 runs.
02:57Why wouldn't he?
02:58He's done it every year of his career.
02:59As long as he stays healthy, he'll put up those kind of numbers.
03:02Mets fans need to chill.
03:05Yeah, tough PR week for Soto, too.
03:07All the reports coming out, true or not true, where he's flying on planes.
03:10Mom's getting new wardrobes out here.
03:12You know, security for the fan base.
03:14By the way, security, Mark, for the family at home and away games.
03:18Like, this isn't like Pop's Halliburton or somebody like we recognize.
03:22Do we really recognize Soto's family?
03:24Like, there is an issue if they can't walk around the pavilion out there at Citi Field or in away games?
03:30Well, maybe he needs to be the protector of the year.
03:33That would be a good award for whoever is doing that job.
03:36See?
03:36Sounds a lot better for that guy than it does for the most outstanding offensive lineman.
03:40But that's either here or there.
03:41Again, the extracurricular stuff that was probably in place before anything ever happened is only becoming an issue because of lack of production.
03:52If he was putting up numbers at this point last year that he was at this point last year, no one cares.
03:58Right?
03:59We're only making a big deal out of it because the numbers are substandard.
04:02That kind of comes with the whole turf.
04:04You know, like, you have to live with that.
04:05But, again, all this stuff, I mean, I could be wrong.
04:09I don't know 100%.
04:10But the family thing and the dynamic of them getting preferential treatment, I feel like that was already in place before any of this started.
04:17Right?
04:18Like, it just doesn't make sense that all of a sudden, because he only has eight home runs, his family is being threatened.
04:23No, I think that stuff was in place to begin with.
