Juan Soto goes from hurt to home run in two pitches, a breakdown
What Happened
Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals steps up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Yankees leading 1-0. The Nationals have a runner on first and Soto represents the go-ahead run. New York's starting pitcher, Cole Reagan, delivers a high fastball that Soto takes for a strike. On the next pitch, Reagan throws a slider that Soto easily lays off, showing his patience and pitch recognition. With the count now 1-1, Reagan tries to tunnel the pitches, coming back with a curveball. Soto tracks it well and lets it go by for another strike. Sensing Soto's plate discipline, Reagan tries to get him to chase a slider low and away, but Soto refuses to bite, fouling it off. On the 2-2 pitch, Soto fouls a slider off the top of his foot, wincing in obvious pain. The Yankees' dugout and the crowd at Nationals Park fall silent, concerned that Soto may have suffered a serious injury. Nationals manager Dave Boone and the team trainer rush to check on Soto, who points to the top of his foot as the area of discomfort. Despite the injury scare, Soto confidently tells the trainer, "I'm going to stay in the game." True to his word, Soto steps back into the box, ready to face the next pitch. Reagan tries to surprise him with a high changeup, but Soto effortlessly spoils it, fouling it off. The crowd erupts, sensing the drama unfolding. With the count still 2-2, Reagan goes back to his curveball and Soto unleashes a towering home run that clears the wall, giving the Nationals the lead. As Soto trots around the bases, his teammates, including first baseman Anthony Rizzo, celebrate animatedly in the dugout. The dramatic turn of events leaves the Yankees and their fans stunned, as Soto's resilience and talent have once again been on full display.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentJuan stto knows baseball he knows drama
he knows theater this breakdown is
brought to by DraftKings Juan stto last
week put on a show against the Royals
Yankees are down one nothing tying runs
on first go-ahead run is stto takes that
fast ball above the Zone he does a
little head nod
like oh okay strike if you say so after
that Cole Reagan is going to hit him
with the slider and Soto just takes that
sees it well enough says Nah because
that's what Reagan's trying to do he's
trying to Tunnel those two pitches off
so he can get batters chasing stto said
not going to chase it not interested not
I 1- now and Reagan goes with the Curve
and Soto's like oh okay that was slow
enough I kind of that lit my eyes up
wanted to swing it two strike count now
and what do Reagan do the catcher slides
to the right and he throws a slider
again below the zone so says n dude nuh
I'm seeing that you want to bring it in
the zone I'll swinging it cuz I'm seeing
it well oh there we go in the zone
swings at it oh no hits his foot he's
jumping around don't be in a lot of pain
Yankees fans are watching saying oh this
is bad don't be like a broken bone on
the top of your foot don't we've seen it
we know what it is can't have Juan stto
get hurt Yankees Stadium gets hushed
everyone gets scared trainer comes out
and checks on him says are you okay okay
he says my foot hurts trainer says where
he says the
foot the Foot Right Here up there two
fingers three fingers four fingers there
found the spot yep no down there I don't
know he's got the guard on his foot in
that spot in case he gets hit there uh
they're checking on him they're checking
on him here's a replay watch this he
hits this one and Bam right into the top
between the tongue of his shoe and the
padding on his shin just the perfect
placement to get hit and hurt and hop
around and just fill us with worry look
at the ball spinning that's cool right
there's the the slider spin just did not
Barrel it up hit it straight down into
his foot not good right here just right
into the spot with no padding kind of
crazy cool camera work huh the ball you
can see the lace spin you can see the
anguish on his face oh no we don't like
that we don't like that we don't like
that Boon says are you okay he's like
I'm going to stay in the game cuz I'm
wano I play every game hey RZ I bet you
he goes deep huh bet you throws this one
way up top yeah okay he's excited about
it oh vul's getting in Rizzo's face the
next pitch Cole Reagan goes Change Up In
the Zone oh that guy loved it just what
a spoil job from SoDo a lot of guys
don't have that in their bag they don't
have that club because they're just do
an a swing Soto's got such good back
control that he's like bam spoiled
spoiled spoiled is that a strike um says
yeah it's probably going to be a strike
he says okay so now he says what should
I go back to he's seeing the slider
really well he swung at that curve ball
let's go back to the curve bam oh juicy
2 two curveball into the crowd Rizzo and
Wells start slapping the out of
each other Wells wants a high five
Rizzo's just throwing slaps they kind of
connect there Wells doesn't like it at
all the rest of the dugouts going crazy
Soto watched it the whole way he loved
it loved it let's go come on look at
this oh hopping around foot still hurts
Ginger yeah let go yeah that's drama
that's theater that's a knuckle curve
that got a lot of plate a lot of spin
bam catcher's like oh umpire's like oo
this fan just perfectly placed and he
does not grab it his friends going to
look at him like oh
bro what the hell does juano know drama
at all does juano know drama or what
hurt the whole crowd scared two pitches
later Yanks got the lead he's not hurt
this one was brought to you by
DraftKings thanking to DraftKings for
sponsoring the breakdowns thank you to
you guys for watching them appreciate
you very much goodbye farewell eler Zan