Zack Greinke and Juan Soto mind games, a breakdown

Oct 26, 2019 3.2M views 3:20

What Happened

During the 2019 World Series, Jomboy breaks down a single at-bat between Nationals rookie Juan Soto and Astros ace Zack Greinke. The clip is a chess match more than a confrontation: Greinke repeatedly steps off the rubber just as Soto finishes his pre-pitch routine, refusing to let the hitter get comfortable and quietly mocking the famous Soto Shuffle. Greinke pitches Soto inside all at-bat, shakes off emphatically on a 3-1 count, then throws a fastball down the middle that a tipped-off Soto takes. The plate appearance ends in a walk, the only time Soto reached base against Greinke in the game.

Why This Matters

This is veteran gamesmanship against a 20-year-old who was tearing up October, and it lands because Greinke is one of the few pitchers cerebral enough to weaponize tempo and body language. Stepping off the rubber is legal and unlimited as long as the pitcher disengages properly, so Greinke could reset the clock on Soto's routine as many times as he wanted. The genius is the fake shake on 3-1: by selling that he won't throw the heater, Greinke freezes Soto on a pitch he otherwise crushes. Context matters here. Soto had 10 RBIs and three homers through 13 postseason games, and the Soto Shuffle had become a national talking point. Greinke held him hitless, walking him once and otherwise getting a groundout and a strikeout. Washington still won the title in seven.

At 3.2M views it ranks 45th of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, putting it in the top 2.8% of the catalog.

Key Moments

Who / What Is Involved

Players: Zack Greinke.

Key Terms Mentioned

you guys know I've been loving everyone

so to iPad this postseason the Soto

shuffles fun he's got an 8 17 I know PS

10 RBIs in three home runs in 13 games

he's having a great postseason his

facing Zack Greinke here this is a fun

Outback because there's a lot of mind

games going on it's brought to you by

auction of Champions calm so Greinke

let's Soto get his feet set he has his

whole pre at bat routine gets in it and

Greinke says you know what now let's

step off and do it again just mind games

galore so sodas like okay

I was ready now I will get re ready and

do it all again it's kind of laughing

okay here we go and ready alright here's

the first pitch and it is a ball and

Soto does a little shuffle loom not grab

little shoulder pop little spit back in

the box for the second pitch one oh

count ok low hips hips hips for the boys

getting the bat ready

and pitch number two is inside and now

we got a full-on square stare at you bad

guy routine I think you and he squares

up the pitcher is almost ruder than the

nut grab a two o pitch it should be a

fastball coming that's usually what it

is but Greinke is good enough that he

can rely on his off-speed gets in the

box gets his feet set cranky says now

now I'm gonna step off again I'm not

gonna let you get set and now once I was

laughing cuz he knows this is mind games

he got comfortable in the box and

Cranky's just saying now get out of

there man I ain't giving in to you okay

we'll get set again here comes the two

Oh inside fastball UMP gives him the

call so toe shuffle gets ruined he looks

at he's like you sure I'm says yeah okay

almost pretty bad last night now is the

2-1 and gran key goes high in and says

now I'm really not gonna let you get

comfortable

[ __ ] your shuffle I mean it's cool it's

ballsy I mean it didn't hit him so

that's good well you can make a guy

uncomfortable now we got a 3-1 pitch

check this out Phil Hughes caught it

cranky just deep Soto hard with that

emphatic shake on three one nobody takes

that 3-1 heater Phil uses the next

pitcher if you don't know who he is he's

also got a new YouTube channel go

subscribe to it it's a 3-1 count and

cranky does a hard shake like no not

doing that and so don't nods like oh

okay don't want to throw me the heater

huh too scared to throw me the heater in

a fastball count and then Greg he throws

a fastball right down the middle and

Soto just nods his head okay [ __ ] we're

playing game still alright because I

would have swung at that had I not seen

you shake so emphatically but cranky

does lose him on the 3-2 pitch ends up

walking Soto he runs away a lot of mind

games he did hold him at beta that was

the only time you reach Soto went over 4

in this game he grounded out for his

cranky he also struck him out in his

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