Juan Soto sent the Yankees to the World Series with an epic at-bat that resulted in a three-run home run in the 10th inning off of Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis, delivering the exact kind of swing the team was hoping for when they acquired him in a blockbuster deal over the offseason.
For Sal’s money, it is in the running for the greatest plate appearance he has seen as a baseball fan.
“That Soto at-bat was maybe the greatest at-bat I’ve ever seen,” Sal said. “You just knew it was coming. You knew, when Gaddis couldn’t get Soto out with the off-speed talk, and you saw Soto looking at him like ‘I own you.’ He’s shaking and nodding his head. I know he does it on occasion, but this time, it was like, ‘Gaddis is screwed.’”
Soto fell behind 1-2 and immediately went to work on spoiling Gaddis’ breaking balls, fouling them off and nodding back at Gaddis after every pitch, telling himself that he was on the righty’s stuff, just waiting for a fastball to do damage. He finally got one after fouling off four straight pitches, and crushed it to center field for the biggest home run in recent memory for the Yankees.
“You knew he would get him,” Sal said. “It was just a matter of what extent Soto would get him.
“The guy is a machine. He is unbelievable with each at-bat…you knew Soto had him. He had him beat. Four pitches before that fastball that Soto hit over the fence, he had him beat.”