Juan Soto nearly tied Tuesday night’s game in the ninth inning, but his deep drive to center field landed just short of the wall in an eventual 5-3 loss for the Yankees.
Soto is still having a monster year, but after Tuesday’s hitless night, his batting average has dropped to .291 on the season, and he is batting below .185 over his last 19 games, logging as many hits at strikeouts (11) in that span.
C-Mac isn’t sure if the forearm inflammation Soto was dealing with last month is playing a role, but he does know that the Yanks desperately need Soto to get going, as the lineup is struggling badly as a whole over the last three weeks.
“At the beginning of the year, so much of the hot start and the different feel of this team was credited to Juan Soto,” C-Mac said. “Now that the urgency is gone and they’re struggling and he’s not helping much during this struggle…it almost feels like when things were hot and the team was playing well, he was right there. He was the catalyst for the team.
“I don’t know if he’s injured…maybe he is still dealing with something, but he’s out there playing every day.”
C-Mac says so much of Soto’s future has been framed around the Yankees showcasing the Bronx as the place he should call home for good with free agency just months away, but now is the time for Soto to show the Yanks that he is deserving of the record contract that is sure to come his way.
“We talk about how the Yankees only have two great players and that’s all they have, and right now, they don’t even have that, because he hasn’t been that for the last three weeks,” C-Mac said. “They need him to be that guy.
“Now is the time for Juan Soto to make the case to the Yankees why he’s worth $500 million…now is the time for him to sell us, because they need him desperately.”