Details On Juan Soto About The Suspension

When Yankees sophomore Anthony Volpe entered spring training with a retooled, level swing for 2024, the thought process involved getting him back to basics. Though a potential reduction in power seemed sure to follow (Volpe hit 21 home runs in 2023, but didn’t hit much else), the residual increase in productivity and peskiness seemed worth it, if all things held constant.

As it turns out, Volpe can still go yard, even with a new swing designed to create chaos, not damage.

In an entirely unexpected outcome (only because of the swing adjustments, not because Volpe has been anything other than spectacular), he responded to a 1-2 count and an open hole in the right side of the infield by looping a deep fly ball well over the left field fence for a three-run shot.

Yankees’ Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto explode in six-run fourth inning
Were the Yankees done after Volpe did his blink-of-an-eye damage in the fourth? Not quite.

After a double poked down the left field line, Alex Verdugo (and his singular chain/low socks) appeared likely to be stranded at third base following a medium-depth fly ball to right field by Gleyber Torres. Third base coach Luis Rojas held Verdugo up while he was midway down the line. Why bother? Why take what likely would’ve been a fourth run of the frame off the board, out of an abundance of caution?

Juan Soto is why. On the very next pitch, the Yankees’ newest matinee idol tattooed a high, arcing fly ball into the right field seats — which, coincidentally, were packed with the very same fans who showered him with adoration when he jogged out to his defensive position in the top half of the next inning.

This marks the first time the Yankees have powered two three-run home runs in the same inning since … 2015, when Brian McCann and Chris Young did it against the Red Sox.

Off Jesus Luzardo, too. That’s a brand name. And a potential trade deadline target, if the chips fall in the right places.

That was Volpe’s second home run of the season in his 11th game, no small feat considering the amount of pop he planned to bring with him this year remained a mystery entering March.

But Soto’s first homer at home stole the show mere minutes later, and the connectivity he displayed with the rabid Yankee fans just beyond the wall spoke even louder than his thunderous bat.

The love affair, ideally, is just beginning, but this indelible moment and its aftermath won’t soon be forgotten.