Yankees Legend Explains Juan Soto’s Emotional Problem

Juan Soto is slipping, and New York Yankees legend David Cone knows why.

Cone joined fellow former MLB great-turned ESPN commentator Eduardo Pérez on the Baseball Tonight podcast to discuss the $765 million player, who by their account is living in his own head.

Perez expressed his faith in Soto, citing his impressive record as proof that despite his recent performance at the plate, the guy's instincts are solid.

“The thing that I’m still concerned about is can he and will he, and when will he — because he will — hit the fastball,“ Perez said. ”He’s still swinging and missing on pitches in the zone on the fastball. He’s still in between. We saw a couple check swings. That’s very unlike Juan Soto."

“And what that tells me is there’s a lot of things going on in that head as he is preparing to be able to get the load and get ready to hit. Is it that he’s starting a little bit late? It could be. Is it that his hands are a little bit too low? They could be. But all the things that I’m saying right now are most likely also in his head. And that’s not a really great place to be. Fortunately for him, he understands what a strike is. He’s got great hand-eye coordination and, oh, he’s Juan Soto, a lifetime .944 ops coming into this game.”

Former Yankees pitcher David Cone described Soto's problem in emotional terms, explaining that regaining confidence at bat is something Soto will ultimately have to work out for himself.

"And that’s what’s going on with Juan Soto," Cone said." It’s the heartbeat. It’s emotional. There’s no question about it. That’s what leads to the confidence in the batter’s box. That leads to the lack of the Soto shuffle. [...] And I don’t know how you work through that. That’s something he’s going to have to figure out himself. He’s got a good support group around him that is going to give him everything he needs."

"But bottom line is, Juan Soto’s got to feel it emotionally. And until he does, we’re not going to see the same old swagger that we’re used to seeing from him.”

Soto is understandably downtrodden after taking an emotional beating from sports fans and commentators for weeks on end. The former Yankee was met with overwhelming boos and cries of "f*** Juan Soto" whenever he took the plate in the Mets' series at Yankee Stadium. Some fans made "f*** Juan Soto t-shirts. At the time, he tipped his helmet to the booing fans. That nonchalance appears to have vanished.

The 26-year-old notably backed out of a mic'd up segment with ESPN just over a week ago, and seems to openly resent the constant onslaught of questions about certain subjects, including his decision to sign with the Mets over the Yankees and his present relationships with former teammates like Aaron Judge.

Soto's agent, Scott Boras, feels that Soto is still adjusting to being the highest-paid player in the history of professional sports, just like anyone else adjusts to their first 90 days at a new gig. Boras was similarly confident that the slugger will come around in due time.

“It’s taking time to learn how to wear the crown,” Boras said. “I cautioned Juan about it. This 90-day period of assimilation, I’ve seen it time and time again. There’s probably another 30 days to go through. It’s going to get better and better. It’s about learning how to wear the crown.

The Mets won their first game in a series with the Chicago White Sox today, 2-1. They play the White Sox again tomorrow, May 27, at 7:10 p.m.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!

• Former All-Star Making Angels Debut vs. Yankees
• Yankees’ Aaron Judge Catches Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber
  
• Yankees GM Hints at Pitching Additions
• Yankees Named Landing Spot for Japanese Star 3B
• Yankees Give Big Update on Giancarlo Stanton Return