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Juan Soto Sends Message After Having Words With Nationals Pitcher

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Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Josh Valdez | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 11:52 PM ET

It's been nearly three years since New York Mets slugger Juan Soto played for the Washington Nationals, but he is forever cemented in the latter club's lore. The four-time All-Star signed with it as an international free agent in 2015, and it developed him into a future Hall of Famer. s5p3l

The Nationals called up a 19-year-old Soto in May 2018, making him the league's youngest player at the time. The five-time Silver Slugger led them to their first-ever World Series title just one season later, slashing .277/.373/.554 with five homers and 14 RBI over 17 playoff games.

Washington then traded Soto and Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres in August 2022 for CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell, James Wood, Jarlin Susana, and Luke Voit. Fast-forward to Tuesday, and Soto smacked a 373-foot solo homer to left center off of Gore in the third inning of the Mets-Nationals game.

The 26-year-old shared what he said to Gore as he rounded the bases, via MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

"We were saying hi to each other. That's it," he insisted.

New York won the game 5-4 after Jeff McNeil's walk-off double in the 10th inning.

Juan Soto on the words he exchanged with MacKenzie Gore as he rounded the bases on his homer:

"We were saying hi to each other. That's it."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 11, 2025

Soto finished the contest 2-for-4 with the homer, two RBI, and two runs scored. The 6-foot-1-inch, 224-pounder is now slashing .248/.386/.454 with 12 home runs and 33 RBI across 66 games.

The Mets are five games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East and a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers for baseball's best record.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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