The Post brings you inside the Juan Soto routine that is giving Mets ‘goosebumps’
NY Post
PORT ST. LUCIE — This is how a Swiftie sounds about their favorite pop singer. How an art aficionado might feel seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time at The Louvre. That moment when all the Wright Brothers theories were rewarded with flight.
Eric Chavez gushes discussing Juan Soto’s hitting — off of a tee. He described getting “goose bumps” watching Soto’s pre-workout routine. The Mets hitting coach has spent a lifetime trying to bottle what he thinks is ideal in a hitter and now gets to watch it meticulously, relentlessly and religiously, daily.
“If I had to sum up everything I believe in hitting, he does it,” Chavez said. “He values seeing the baseball and swinging at strikes and being short to the baseball, and he creates low line-drive back spin on the balls he hits.”
And Chavez sees the building blocks every day, away from public viewing. Nestled in the Mets indoor hitting cage in a group with other veterans, including Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and Brandon Nimmo, Soto goes through a 10-15 minute preparatory regimen. It is mostly the same as the one taught to him as a 16-year-old in the Nationals academy in the Dominican Republican by one of their minor league instructors, Troy Gingrich, and he has not stopped using it, even as the $765 million man.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.
The hockey world is getting a new TV adaptation of another romance series that helped define the genre.
What is there about Giants edger ushers and their fixation with single-digit jersey numbers?
Cade Cunningham, almost inarguably the best player in the East this season, is likely out for the remainder of the regular season. That’s the word out of Detroit following the depressing news that Cunningham punctured a lung when he took a knee to his side Tuesday from Washington’s Tre Johnson while chasing a loose ball.