If you’re Chase Hampton and you’re trying to impress in big-league camp, there are far worse hitters to surrender dingers to than new Yankees import Juan Soto. At least you’re bound to get noticed!
Hampton was a gracious host in Soto’s BP at-bat on Wednesday afternoon, setting up the slugger to make a positive first impression — or, at least, a better impression than when Nestor Cortes Jr. rocked him to sleep on Tuesday.
Giancarlo Stanton’s fresh approach and retooled frame stole the show with a hard-hit liner at Tuesday’s first full-squad workout, but Soto prepared a fairly powerful response in his next opportunity to shine on Wednesday.
Before flying north and getting to experience the home crowd in all its intensity and fervor, Soto practiced shutting up a road crowd in an instant by slamming this absolute silencer off Hampton. Look at how fast that thing boogies. He earned an impressed round of awed applause for his efforts.
Yankees slugger Juan Soto tattoos BP home run off Chase Hampton
Hampton, to his credit, somehow recovered from that abject laser to strike out some guy named Aaron Judge before his time was up. Hopefully, that Judge dude can someday have a moment in the spotlight that shines as brightly as Soto’s BP shot.
The crowd may have loved Soto plenty, but they couldn’t possibly have loved him as much as the woman who directed his morning film shoot did.
Yankees on-camera reporter Meredith Marakovits tweeted a brief clip of Soto flexing and posing with the bat that was shot Wednesday morning, presumably for in-game use on the scoreboard. Soto’s director was absolutely loving every minute of it.
If, “YAAAASS, JUAN! Nice stuff, Juan! Awesome!” doesn’t become a wholesome meme by the end of the season, then we’ve all failed.
While there’s nothing Yankee fans can do to prevent Scott Boras from taking his high-profile client to free agency next winter, they can certainly put as much pressure on the front office as possible to keep Soto by showing him an overwhelming amount of love and making New York the destination he always dreamed it would be.
Wednesday afternoon represented a great start. Now, it’s on Soto and the Yankees fans to make sure it’s not all gone in as quick of a blink as that homer
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