Juan Soto hits a 426-foot home run in his first at-bat for the New York Mets
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Juan Soto has homered in his first spring training at-bat for his new team, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning for the New York Mets against Houston. Soto signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract this offseason, moving across New York from the Yankees to the Mets. He hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and hit a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon. The following inning, Soto drove in another run with a groundball.
NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale throws 2 perfect innings for Atlanta in his spring debut
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Fresh off his first Cy Young Award, Chris Sale opened spring training with two perfect innings for the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta lost to the Minnesota Twins 3-1, but the 35-year-old Sale retired all six of his batters, although he did not strike anybody out. Sale is entering his second year with the Braves. The left-hander went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts last season, winning the National League’s pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young. He was healthy enough to make 29 starts. That was his most since 2017. Sale threw 21 pitches and 14 strikes Saturday.
Reds manager Francona wants veteran players to ignore ABS test run. ‘It just muddies the waters’
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona says he’s told players not to use the experimental Automated Ball-Strike System in spring training. Francona told The Athletic he’s OK with younger players challenging calls via the ABS, which has been in use in the minors. But he figures there’s little point for veterans since the system won’t be in effect in the majors during this coming regular season. The computerized system is being tested during major league spring training exhibition games after four years of experiments in the minors. Starting last year, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call.