Yankees RF Juan Soto’s defense mocked by Hall of Famer

When Yankees right fielder Juan Soto was nominated for a Gold Glove, there were a few snickers.

Those who watched Soto every day conceded that he was a better defensive player than many expected when he was traded from the San Diego Padres, but a Gold Glove winner? Probably not.

Well, on Tuesday night, in Game 4 of the World Series, FOX baseball analyst and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz mocked Soto’s defensive abilities. Smoltz went after Soto after watching Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts hold Yankees Alex Verdugo to a single on a line drive toward the foul line in the fourth inning.

“You see the difference just right field play in this series already?” Smoltz said. “I mean, it’s almost impossible to get a double when you hit it to Mookie Betts, but we’ve seen the doubles and triples when it’s gone to Soto’s positioning and defense. It’s like he’s playing goalie out there.”

Soto committed two errors in 143 games in the outfield this season, while throwing out 10 base runners. But other metrics are against him: Soto registered minus-four Outs Above Average, which was tied for 37th among qualified right fielders, while his minus-one Defensive Runs Saved were tied for 13th among right fielders who played at least 500 innings.

“I’m not surprised,” manager Aaron Boone said when the nominations were announced. “Because I vote on that — you can’t vote for your own guys — but we get that [ballot] two or three weeks ago, it pops on your desk. They give you numbers in there to reference. He was up there, I noticed, on all the right field stuff in a lot of areas. Plus he’s had a ton of assists out there.”

Boone said Soto “probably” was better defensively than he expected.

“But I also heard that he cared about it,” Boone said. “So you get a young, athletic guy that cares about doing it out there, they got a chance to be good. He had a couple games where he struggled going back on a ball against the wall, but he’s also made a lot of plays out there, too.”

Soto, a finalist with the Red Sox’s Wilyer Abreu and the Angels’ Jo Adell, joined shortstop Anthony Volpe and left fielder Alex Verdugo as the Yankees’ nominees. Volpe won last year as a rookie.

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