Spanish
New York,. — Amid growing criticism of Juan Soto for his effort level on the field, Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez came to the defense of the Dominican slugger through his X account and during an appearance on MLB Network's Leadoff program.
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“Once I was the highest-paid player and it took me a while to adapt,” Martínez expressed. “Nobody stops to think about the human being inside the uniform. There are things that can distract you. We forget how young he is.”
The statements come after a couple of controversial plays by Soto. On Sunday, he was out at first base after slowly jogging a ground ball to center field. And on Monday, after hitting a ball he thought was a home run, he stopped before running, which led to a double play that extinguished a possible offensive threat, despite the fact that he later stole second base.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expressed his concern: “We're going to talk to him about that. Juan thought he had hit it out, but in this stadium —with that wall so close— you have to run from the first step.”
Soto, who is in his first season with the Mets under a contract of 15 years and 765 million dollars, has an offensive line of .246/.376/.439, with eight home runs and six stolen bases. However, his current on-base, slugging, and OPS percentages are the lowest of his career.
Questioned by the press about whether he should improve his intensity on the field, Soto replied: “I think I've been playing with quite a bit of intensity. If you saw today's game, you noticed.”
