SAN DIEGO — Juan Soto seemed to understand what awaited him in his return to Petco Park, even if he did not know the exact form it would take. It was Friday afternoon and Soto sat on a makeshift stage beneath the stadium. A press conference had been arranged for a supremely gifted hitter who continues to be the center of attention regardless of his uniform.
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Soto now stars for the New York Yankees. Over the last eight weeks, he has shined brighter than he ever did during a 16-month stint with the San Diego Padres. So, before his first game against his former team, he fielded a question about the reception he expected from the home fans.
“It’s kind of tough for me because they were right there every day for me,” Soto said. “And I tried my best. I played hard every day. But I didn’t play my best. That’s one of the things I was kind of, like, sad about, because I couldn’t show them really how great I can be. But it is what it is. I really feel good that I get the chance to give my 100 percent out there. But I don’t know how they’re gonna react. It’s baseball, it’s crazy. I’m expecting anything tonight.”
A few hours later, anything arrived in the form of vocal contempt. The home fans booed when Soto’s name was announced in pregame introductions. They booed when he came to the plate for his first at-bat against Yu Darvish. They cheered when he struck out looking at the fourth pitch.
And they booed again, two innings later, when Soto blasted a 423-foot homer and jubilantly rounded third base. That three of the Yankees’ next five batters also went deep continued a distressing trend for a Padres team that has yet to sustain any success where it should be most comfortable.
Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton all go DEEP for the @Yankees in the 3rd inning! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Hkg9bATSvC
— MLB (@MLB) May 25, 2024
“We give up homers at home. I just can’t explain it in this ballpark,” manager Mike Shildt said after an 8-0 shutout dropped the Padres to 27-27 overall and 10-16 at Petco Park. “That’s almost as simple as the equation is. When we’re down three, four runs, five runs early, it’s just not a recipe for success.”
The Padres have found other ways to succeed, winning six of their previous seven series. But in 26 games at Petco Park, they have surrendered 39 home runs. No team has allowed a higher per-game average at home. Not including the season opener in South Korea, San Diego has pitched to the majors’ fourth-worst home ERA (4.77). On the road, the Padres are 17-10 with a 3.28 ERA.
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Friday, their hottest starter became the latest victim of the American League’s leading offense. Darvish’s career-best, 25-inning scoreless streak promptly ended. Anthony Volpe led off the game with a triple and, after Soto’s strikeout, scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge. Then, in the top of the third, Soto and Judge crushed back-to-back two-out home runs, Alex Verdugo singled and Giancarlo Stanton blasted a two-run shot. The barrage resumed in the top of the fourth when Gleyber Torres led off with a drive over the center-field wall.
Darvish, speaking after the game, said he did not believe the Yankees had picked up a tell.
“I don’t think so,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “My pitches obviously weren’t as sharp as I would like them to be. So, I don’t think they had anything. It’s just, on my part, not being able to execute pitches as much as I wanted to.”
More than any other club, the Yankees have punished a lack of execution. They lead the majors in both total home runs (79) and overall slugging percentage (.440). The addition of Soto (14 home runs) has given them arguably the best slugger in the game and lengthened an offense that also features a typically productive Judge (16 home runs) and a resurgent Stanton (13 home runs).
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The Padres, now without Soto’s power production, are tied for 16th with 52 home runs. They rank 13th in slugging percentage, and only one of their players, Jurickson Profar, is slugging better than .453. They have hit only four home runs in their last 10 games, and three of those homers came the day before former Silver Slugger Xander Bogaerts fractured his left shoulder. At Petco Park, where they have not scored in their last 20 innings, they have been out-homered 39-31.
Still, better than most clubs, the Padres have found ways to manufacture offense — at least outside of Petco Park. They are tied for second, with the Yankees, in runs scored on the road. Their slugging percentage in away games is seventh-best in the majors.
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“I like the fact that we have a diverse offense,” Shildt said. “We’ve been able to win a lot of different ways and demonstrate that fairly consistently. Yeah, we’re gonna always look for homers. We’ll take them as much as we can get them.”
The Padres figure to get fewer of them now that Bogaerts, who hit 19 last season and had begun to emerge from a lengthy slump, is expected to miss multiple months of action. The recent trade for Luis Arraez has brought another singular talent to San Diego — and a palpable infusion of energy — but Arraez is not a multidimensional slugger like Soto. There will be occasional, empty showings. (Arraez went 0-for-4 Friday to snap an eight-game multi-hit streak. Playing first base, he let a groundball get by him a few minutes before Soto opened the Yankees’ volley of home runs.)
And, for the Padres, there already have been too many games like their latest.
“We better start winning over here,” right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said Friday afternoon inside Petco Park’s home clubhouse.
Forty minutes later, a good friend of Tatis’ sat on a makeshift stage near the visiting locker room. Soto, who has thrived with the Yankees, smiled through much of a 10-minute press conference. At one point, he was asked about the collective lack of success that spoiled his final season in San Diego.
“For me, it’s just baseball,” Soto said. “I think I had a great time in San Diego. We had a great group in 2023. I just think it’s baseball. At the end of the day, even if you have the best team on paper, you got to go out there and try to win games. But stuff happens. We didn’t have the luck on our side in 2023. We have some games where it was nothing we can do. But it is what it is. Now it’s in the past.”
Both sides appear to have moved on amicably. Meanwhile, the Padres are still searching for answers at home.
(Top photo of Juan Soto flipping his bat after hitting a two-run home run: David Frerker / USA Today)