#MLBVideos: Juan Soto on ABS Challenge System, Bryce Harper, nearly going 40/40, playing in the WBC and MORE!

Juan Soto on ABS Challenge System, Bryce Harper, nearly going 40/40, playing in the WBC and MORE!

Hi, it’s Juan Sto in MLB office hours. Baseball topic number one is ABS, the automated balls and strike system that’s coming in. You are known for having the best eye in all of baseball. So, I’m just curious what you think of this change and you know, you excited for it? You think anybody’s ever going to be able to get you out again? I feel it’s going to be tricky. It’s going to be tricky. Yeah, I don’t know. For me, it’s it’s going to be I feel like it’s going to be a challenge for me because um we’ve been talking about how great my strikes on and my discipline of the play is, but now it’s going to be put on on a test to see if we how good I am uh with my eyes. And I think it’s it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be interesting. And we’re going to see from there what is going on. Where where does that eyesight come from? like have you always had this incredible eye? My eye hand coordination just come uh since the minor leagues, you know, we we start working on it. We start working on something since my first year as a rookie. We just been building little by little uh this discipline and I start getting to know the strike zone more, knowing the plates, knowing the knowing the pitchers and little by little, you know, I’ve been becoming who I am. You came up at 19, right? Who were the vets for you when you were that young? Who helped you out? I feel like the whole team helped me out. I was blessed with a veteran team when I came up to the league. I learned a lot from from a lot of guys. First guy who always cut my intentions, Brace Harper. When I got up to the lead, it was a guy who grabbed me under his wing and he tried to help me, you know, to learn the the big league way going from there. Then I have Ren Don, I have Max, I have Ryan Seamman, Howie Kendrick. It was so many veteran players that I have around. I mean Daniel Murphy when he was there I have so many guys to learn from that I was blessed with that and it wasn’t only one guy but then all of them try to help me be a great professional and have a great career somehow we’re sitting here like seven years later and you’re a vet at this point right I mean not age wise but just your your experience yeah but this this Mets team has a lot of young guys who are you know really good prospects really good players how have you come into this role now where you kind of are a vet in terms experience now with these young guys. Is that weird for you? For me, I always try to tell everybody I’m I’m a rookie for life. I always going to feel like a rookie. I always going to treat myself like a rookie around everybody. Whenever they they need me uh to be there and help them with any questions or anything they have, I I will be right there. But definitely I going to make them feel that we are equal. Everybody’s equal in there. And it’s it’s no difference. Nobody is bigger than other. We all the same. We all brothers. We all playing for the same same reason. And that’s the way I felt when I came up to the league. You know, I play with so many great veteran players. But that made me feel one of them. Uh and that’s that’s the way I I handle things is that’s the way I go through. You have these guys on the Mets, these young pitchers that came up this year. You got Jonah Tong and Nolan and Sprro towards the end. I mean, I’m sure you’re you’re happy those guys are on your side, but I’m for fans out there, like what are you as a great hitter seeing from these guys? Like how good they they can be? I’m I’m really excited for those guys. Um they are definitely top 10 in the league. I mean, her their stuff is just unbelievable. What they’ve been showing it’s that they can be a really good ace in in the near future, you know, and I’m really excited about it. And those kids are really humble kids that want to learn and they come to the field hungry every day to to keep learning. They are rookies. They know they’re rookies, but we’re trying to make them feel um the best way possible to let them know they’re going to be r a future near. They don’t have to focus on being a rookie or anything like that. They just had to play baseball. I want to talk to you about the Dominican Republic a little bit. Um, first of all, we had we had Tatis in the office a couple months ago asked him the exact same question. Just what does baseball mean to the people of Dominican Republic? And I know that’s probably a really long answer, but like even what it meant to you coming up in the Dominican Republic? For the Dominican Republic, it’s it’s great. It means everything for the Dominicans. I feel like it’s it’s a sport that brings the country together. It doesn’t matter where you from, who you are around the the island. Um, baseball bring you together. And when you play baseball, it just bring people one or two. Bring it together or separate, you know, like it’s the same as a winner ball, you know, it’s a it’s a big competition. Um, I do remember when you see social media, everybody’s talking about, oh, October is coming now. We all going to be enemies because everybody’s going to be pulling for their teams and stuff. But I mean when fans pulling for the same thing, they they do it with patience and and they they right there every day. They they have fun. They they bring the most that they have uh for that team. Uh and that’s why I feel like they it brings the Dominican Republic together because it’s it’s it’s no sport. I feel like it’s it’s a lifestyle down in Dominican Republic. We were at the World Series with Junior Camero. He’s watching Teay Oscar. T Oscar Homer’s Junior’s going nuts like it’s his brother like he’s so happy for him. There’s that brotherhood I think between all of you guys but I’m curious with guys like Vlatty who just had his moment in the postseason. Tatis when did you remember like meeting those guys and and was it in the league or you knew them when you guys were kids or when do you remember meeting them? I mean uh Tatis and Bl 15. Um we were doing tryyous together. we’ve been showing to teams and stuff like that together. That was the way we we saw each other. We we saw on the streets every try out we just say hi and stuff. But then when we go when we get on the lines, we were, you know, we were focused and everything. What do you remember about those guys, though? Could they play when they were 14, too? I bet I bet they could. Yeah. I mean, Bly was putting on the show every day. I mean, I remember one time we went to the Nationals Academy and bloody hit for like 30 minutes straight and we were just shagging and he was hitting balls 500 ft all over the field. Yeah. And we were just like, we don’t even shagging. We just watching balls going out of the field literally. We just like boom boom boom. And we’re like, what is going on? And he put on the show for us. We were impressive. And we went from there. We hit two and then they say, “Okay, try out’s over. You guys can go. Let’s talk.” We lost a lot of baseballs. We didn’t have anything else. All the baseball, but you know, Blotty and Tatty, they always been superstars. You know, Tatty definitely was a little shorter. He really he was impressed how much he grew and in a short time and how he become a superstar so fast, so quick. Because I remember, you know, Tatty always was a guy who always everybody knows he can play and stuff, but he hasn’t developed this his power. And I remember one time we went to Miami and he start hitting balls out and everybody’s like, “Whoa, is that Tatty Jr.?” No, no way. And uh I think that’s how he start his journey and he started growing growing and becoming the superstar that he is. I mean, you’ve even said you think he’s for you he’s your favorite player to watch or he’s the best player. You think all around I mean he can do everything. So it’s pretty cool that you guys have been doing this for a while. All of a sudden this year you’re a base stealer. I mean I we’ve watched your whole career. You’re going 30 30 almost 40. Don’t give away any of your secrets but like sneaky. Is that what it is? Just a good base runner. Just sneaky. Where does this come from? This new I’m going to maybe go you got to go 40 now. You got a choice. That’s it. We’re going to see. We’re going to see. I always train myself, you know, to to try to be fast. So, you know, it’s it’s kind of hard to move 230 lbs all over the field. I was well prepared to to take off, to run, to to move well on the field. Yeah. Uh but, you know, I was missing a couple things on the basis uh to try to help my game to to increase in that way and getting Antoine Richardson this year. He he teach me a couple tricks that we can use uh on the game and actually worked. It was it was really impressive. That’s awesome. At the beginning, I have a little bit of uh uncomfortable. I was kind of like doubting about it, but then when I saw start seeing is working, man, it just it was just fun to do it. And we find the the happy medium. We we didn’t try to be too aggressive or uh just shut it down completely. We try to figure out the middle where we can do it because definitely we have Pete Alonzo behind me and one of the best power hitters in the game. We want to make sure you know I’m on base whenever he’s hitting. We have this word association thing. So it’s literally just the first word that comes to your mind. I’m going to name a player. We’ll start with Vlatty since we’re talking about him. First thing that comes to mind when you think of Vlad. Power. Tatis speed. Ronald Akuna Jr. Electric Ali de la Cruz. Ala Cruz. Love it. Um, okay. We got to throw a picture in there. Paul Skins mustache. [Laughter] Juan Sodto. Uh, smile. Okay, these are the last ones. We’re doing a quick rapid fire. Juan Sto’s favorite music artist right now is so many man. Uh I feel like he’s not a favorite artist, but I will say music style a typical Dominican typical. I like that it’s it’s a lot of movement and everything fits your I’ve been in I’ve been around the uh north part of the island for a little bit and it’s been fun. Juan Sto’s favorite athlete doesn’t have to be baseball player is favorite athlete of all time. Uh, you know, you got to respect Michael Jordan legacy. I feel like the way he prepares um not only for what he’s done in the game, but um his mentality and the way he see things that it doesn’t matter how much you got to work to get it, he’s going to get it done. Um it’s one of the things that you got to respect. When Juan Sto is not playing baseball, what is he doing? Playing video games. Are you good? I’m I’m okay. I’m I’m okay in every game. I won’t say I’m the best. I’m okay in every game. But um you know, when I’m in down in Dominican, I like to hang out with my family, playing some dominoes, uh have a good time, laugh, um go on a vacation, just drive around the country, um getting to know a little bit more the Dominican Republic. I feel there’s so many places that you can get into it and get to know that I haven’t met. So I love it. That’s that’s what I like to do in my off time. And then the very last thing is your buddy was doing doing a shuffle. What’s your what’s your reaction to his shuffle there? I actually that was against the Mets. I saw that. Um I was just laughing in right field man. It just it just fun. I actually saw Tatty’s too doing a little a little shuffle for two this year and I was just like laughing. I was surprised. I’m I’m really excited for them. You know, it just the way the way we go about things. We we have fun with it. We we on the best on the highest stage of baseball and why not having fun with it? It’s never take it for granted. We we going out there. We respect each other, but definitely we’re going to have fun as much as we can. Thank you. See you around. Beautiful. [Music]

Juan Soto joins us in the latest installment of MLB Office Hours to talk about what baseball means to the Dominican Republic, how he’ll use his eyesight next year when the ABS Challenge System reaches the Major Leagues, and MORE!

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