Maybe Aaron Boone had the Giants on his mind with the Yankees fresh off a sweep in San Francisco. Then again, Tuesday wasn’t the first time the manager compared Juan Soto to baseball’s all-time home run king.
“Barry Bonds,” Boone said when specifically asked if Soto’s confidence and presence at the plate reminded him of anyone from his playing days.
Boone, who played against Bonds, dropped the same name in spring training when asked if he had a comp for Soto’s ability to control the strike zone, though pitchers intentionally walked and pitched around Bonds at an unapparelled rate as he chased history later in his career.
“It’s really special for me,” Soto said of the comparison on Tuesday. “Every time I get compared with guys that have done so much for this game, it’s just great. I really appreciate that. I’m glad that he thinks that way.”
While Bonds ultimately became a prolific home run hitter — his record-setting swing was often linked to performance-enhancing drugs — his offensive game better resembled Soto’s earlier on.
Soto, now in his seventh MLB season, entered Tuesday’s win over the Twins with a .287/.421/.531 slash line, 159 doubles, 14 triples, 177 home runs, 536 RBI, 54 stolen bases, 680 walks, 623 strikeouts, a 159 OPS+ and 32 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference) for his 840-game career.
The speedier Bonds slashed .275/.380/.503 over his first seven full seasons and 1,010 games, all of which came with the Pirates. He added 220 doubles, 36 triples, 176 homers, 556 RBI, 251 stolen bases, 611 walks, 590 strikeouts, a 147 OPS+ and 50.3 WAR over that span.
It wasn’t until Bonds moved to the Bay Area in 1993 that he began eclipsing the 40-home run mark with regularity.
“I was too little when he was hitting all those homers,” Soto said. “When I grew up and I started looking at his numbers and what he was doing and what he was capable of, it’s just incredible.
“If he’s not the greatest, he’s gotta be one of the greatest baseball players that ever played this game. What he did, 40-40 [seasons] and hitting homers, winning MVPs, he’s just incredible.”
Of course, Bonds was not the same player that Soto is today. Boone wasn’t trying to say otherwise on Tuesday.
“They’re different. It’s hard to compare. I mean Bonds, he got one pitch a weekend and hit it in the drink,” the skipper said, a nod to McCovey Cove. “It was kind of otherworldly.”
Instead, Boone was explaining how, like Bonds, he often assumes Soto will do something exemplary when he steps to the plate. Such was the case in San Francisco on Sunday, when Soto belted his second homer of the game against hard-throwing Giants closer Camilo Doval in the ninth inning.
The two-run blast was Soto’s 17th of the season and propelled the Yankees to a sweep. It also locked up an American League Player of the Week honor.
As Soto watched the ball and emphatically flipped his bat, he stunned the Oracle Park crowd into silence. And yet, Soto’s heroics were almost expected — a phenomenon Giants fans should be familiar with after watching Bonds for 15 years.
“To watch Juan, whether he’s 0-2 or ahead in the count … it’s going to be this theatrical thing that unfolds,” Boone said. “And a lot of times, it ends with him doing something magical. So it’s just fun to watch him take an at-bat. And the intensity of the at-bat and the theater and the reaction to a strike or a ball with him is kinda like nothing that I’ve seen.”
