Yankees' Juan Soto demonstrates why all the offseason excitement about acquiring him was justified

PHOENIX — Only a week into spring training for Yankees position players, Gerrit Cole wanted to amend something he had said at the start of camp about Juan Soto.

“I knew I would enjoy watching him,” Cole said in late February. “But like, I love watching him. It’s a real pleasure to get to watch him. That I’m thankful for.”

Four games into the regular season, Yankees fans feel the same way.

Soto, who enjoyed a solid and at times spectacular spring training, bumped that performance up tenfold in the Yankees’ season-opening four-game sweep of the Astros in Houston. He showed he has every bit of the “transformational bat” that Brian Cashman said he possessed after the general manager executed the trade for him in early December.

“He embodies what we want to be,” Aaron Boone said over the weekend. “It’s a fight every time he walks into the batter’s box.”

In another how-great-is-Soto gathering with the media in Houston, Boone said of the three-time All-Star in the box: “He’s a killer.”

The Astros certainly can attest to that.  Soto left them in tatters, going  9-for-17 with four RBIs and compiling  a .529/.600/.765 slash line and a 1.365 OPS. To no one's surprise, he was named American League Player of the Week on Monday.

As Aaron Judge, who has heard similar comments applied to him over the years, succinctly put it, “I don’t see why you would ever want to pitch to that guy.”

Judge is the team captain and unquestioned leader in the clubhouse. Anthony Rizzo, though he doesn't receive as much attention in that regard, could accurately be described as a co-leader. Soto quickly has established himself in that vein, too.

For example: There was Soto, after Friday night’s victory, politely but sternly requesting that the  celebratory music blasting in the clubhouse be turned down before he addressed the media.

There is the parade of players, veteran and young alike, who studiously watch Soto’s work in the cage, both inside and outside. Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera, at vastly different stages of their careers, are among them.

WhenAnthony Volpe cracked his first homer of the season Saturday night, as the ball settled into Minute Maid Park’s Crawford Boxes in left, Soto was on the top step of the dugout, more excited than anyone. (Soto already had hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh for what proved to be the winning run.)

He went 3-for-5 Sunday, lining an opposite-field single with two outs in the ninth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead and send them on their way to the sweep. Afterward, Soto —  though carrying himself with the swagger that comes with knowing exactly who he is and his standing in the game as perhaps the sport’s best overall hitter — unprompted spread credit around.

In talking about the sliding catch in left by Alex Verdugo that ended the game, Soto called it “beautiful” and added, “He won the game for us.” He also praised reserve third baseman Jon Berti,  a late addition to the Sunday lineup when Volpe’s stomach acted up. Berti’s diving backhand stop along the third-base line on a ground smash by Jose Altuve with two on and none out may well have saved the game before Verdugo’s catch did.

“Really close game. Verdugo and Berti, they made those nice plays. It takes everybody to win a game,” Soto said. “That shows you right there, it’s not only my hit, it’s the defense, too, from everybody.”

Berti saw Soto plenty during his time with the Marlins (2019-23) and Soto's tenure with NL East rival Washington (2018 until he was sent to the Padres at the 2022 trade deadline).

“I told him, ‘I’m glad we’re on the same side this time,’ ” Berti said Sunday. “Just because playing against him a bunch when he was with the Nationals, he was always doing that stuff to us when I was in Miami. Glad to be on the same team.”

Cousins added, Tully subtracted

Righty Jake Cousins, acquired Sunday from the White Sox for cash considerations, joined the Yankees in Phoenix and was selected to the active roster. Lefthander Tanner Tully, called up Saturday, was designated for assignment.