Hustling in baseball has one rule: run.
It’s been a rough few nights for Juan Soto. Not necessarily in the box score, though that hasn’t helped, but in the court of public perception. And in New York, that’s the one trial you can’t afford to lose.
On Friday, he walked into Yankee Stadium with boos pouring down on him like a welcome mat. By Sunday, he looked drained, his trademark bravado and swagger noticeably absent. And by Monday, his own fanbase, the Mets faithful, had turned on him, flashing that $765 million contract like a badge of betrayal. Maybe this is what you sign up for when you ink the richest deal in sports history: zero benefit of the doubt, and millions of eyes watching your every step, especially the ones you don’t take.
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Because here’s what everyone did see: Juan Soto not running. Again.
For the second straight night, Soto opted to stay in cruise control out of the batter’s box, and it wasn’t a good look. On Sunday, he hit a routine grounder up the middle and was barely halfway to first base by the time DJ LeMahieu slid, gathered, and made the throw. Arguably, he could’ve made first had he hustled from the box.
On Monday, in a 3–1 loss to the Red Sox, he hit a 347-foot shot off the Green Monster, and stood there watching. The result? A long single. A double left on the table. A play that screamed “he thought it was gone”, which, by the way, it would’ve only been in one MLB park: Houston’s Daikin Park.
The optics weren’t great. His comments afterward didn’t help either.
“I’ve been hustling pretty hard,” Soto said postgame. “If you see it today, you could tell.”
But everyone did see it. And they didn’t see hustle. Even manager Carlos Mendoza, usually the diplomatic type, made it clear that the effort out of the box needs to be addressed. “He thought he had it,” Mendoza said. “But with the wind and all that, and in this ballpark, anywhere, but in particular in this one, with that wall right there, you’ve got to get out of the box. So, yeah, we’ll discuss that.”
Translation: Soto should’ve been running. Especially in a close game like this.
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To be fair, Soto’s not mailing it in entirely. He’s added stolen bases to his game this year, six already, including one on the very next pitch after his admiring single in Boston. He also took third in a key moment over the weekend and scored on a sac fly in a one-run win. He’s running hard on the basepaths when the opportunity arises. That counts for something.
But here’s the problem: in baseball, hustling isn’t just about stealing bases or running first to third. The traditional, non-negotiable definition of hustle, particularly for a star making $765 million, is simple: run hard out of the box. Every time. That’s the bar. That’s always been the bar.
Soto’s moments of flair, his swagger, and his elite talent are part of what makes him great. It’s not about whether Soto sometimes hustles. It’s about whether he’s doing it when it matters most, on close grounders, on balls that could be extra bases, in moments that decide games.
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Because when the numbers don’t overwhelm and the team is losing, all that’s left is perception. And right now, Soto’s perception problem is growing louder than the boos. And this is a city that wants to love him, but won’t if he jogs his way to first.
My unsolicited opinion: Everyone needs to run to first. No excuses. Just run to first, put the ball in play, and give the game a chance to breathe, because sometimes, chaos happens when you just run.
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