Juan Soto didn’t see a pitch he liked in his first two at-bats on Wednesday night.
Hitting third in the order — moving down from his usual No. 2 — against Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, the Mets right fielder took all seven pitches he saw during his first two plate appearances.
Six were strikes, one was a ball and it all totaled in two strikeouts looking for the Mets’ $765 million man.
He struck out one more time and then added a sacrifice fly and a walk in the Mets’ 5-1 win.
Soto went down on three pitches — two cutters and a fastball — in his first at-bat in the opening frame with Francisco Lindor on second. It continued his woes with runners in scoring position, a split where his average stood at .128 coming into the game.
Two innings later, he took a pitch inside for a ball before looking at a sweeper, cutter and fastball, all of which were strikes.
Crochet, a southpaw, has dominated against lefties in his career as they’ve held a .218 average and .593 OPS against him, though Soto has been better against lefties than righties this year (.952 OPS vs. .771 OPS).
It’s been a headline-making week for Soto, who was booed in The Bronx by angry Yankees fans during the Subway Series.
He was called out by media pundits, fans and broadcasters alike for his apparent lack of hustle on a groundout during “Sunday Night Baseball” and his long single off the Green Monster earlier this series in Boston after he failed to run out of the box.
Before the game, manager Carlos Mendoza said that against the lefty it made sense to move Soto down a spot.
“I am not a guy that likes to overact,” Mendoza said before the Mets faced the Red Sox in the series finale at Fenway Park. “I like consistency and to give guys chances, but I just felt today was a day to move people around, and especially the guys at the top, facing a lefty.”
