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Try it freeLOS ANGELES — Juan Soto did a little jig while backpedaling from the batter’s box after a pitch multiple times the past couple of nights here, and even better, he also performed half a shuffle. These might be the best signs yet, even better than his three home runs in the past five games, that the real Juan Soto may be back soon.
We don’t want to jump ahead of ourselves, because he looked like he was back a few weeks ago, and then he fell into a slump worse than ever. But the logic goes like this: If he’s feeling good, he’ll be shuffling. And if he’s feeling good and shuffling, he’ll be hitting.
“I didn’t even notice,” Soto said when asked about the happy backpedaling move, which seems like a new entry in the Soto repertoire. “I’m just focusing on my at-bat and trying to do my thing. I’m not trying to show [anybody] up or trying to be dancing at the plate. Whatever I do up there, it just comes out naturally.”
The past few days, the Mets version of The Natural is showing signs of the swagger and otherworldly ability that led the Mets to sign him to the richest contract in North American sports history. “He’s getting there,” says a National League scout.