It’s clear ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith hasn’t been watching much New York Yankees baseball this season after his massive blunder during “First Take” on Thursday.
During his segment with Chris Russo and Molly Qerim at the “First Take” desk, Smith was discussing who is having the more impressive season between Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani – two frontrunners for MVP in their respective leagues.
But during his talk about Judge, Smith’s argument involved having Soto hit behind Judge in the lineup.
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“But you do got Juan Soto batting behind you,” Smith said. “They can’t get around you a little bit. They got to pitch to the brother, you understand what I’m saying, because you’ve got Soto waiting in the wings. So, all of those things facilitate Aaron Judge behind who he is.”
The problem with that statement from Smith is the lack of facts: Judge hasn’t hit in front of Soto all season.
Instead, manager Aaron Boone has had Soto hitting in the No. 2 hole followed by Judge in the third slot in the lineup.
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So, if anything, Soto’s presence ahead of Judge, who is pacing to break records secured in his MVP 2022 campaign, has been forcing pitchers to go after the left-hander more so they can pitch around Judge.
The problem with that, though, has been Soto having an amazing season himself. Not only has he set a new career-high with 37 homers, but he owns a .421 on-base percentage, which would be his third-best mark of his career to date if the season ended today.
Pitchers have still been trying to avoid giving Soto good pitches, just like Judge. This Yankees dynamic duo leads the league in walks, with Judge owning 110 free trips to first followed right behind by Soto, who has 109. The next closest hitter is Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber.
Russo, the legendary New York sports radio host, sat at the “First Take” desk nodding his head, but he never interjected to correct Smith.
Social media commenters weren’t too kind to Smith as they let him know he was wrong.
“Has he not watched a game this season?” one X user commented.
Another added, “Just a loud mouth who doesn’t know ball.”
When it comes to the conversation regarding Judge and Ohtani, the Dodgers star, who can’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has been highly impressive with what’s looking to be an incredible 50/50 season with home runs and stolen bases.
However, Judge has a shot at the rare MLB Triple Crown, which is leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI. Judge owns the lead in homers (51) and RBI (123), but Kansas City Royals phenom Bobby Witt Jr. has him beat in batting average at .346 entering play Thursday.
Either way, both Judge and Ohtani are in line to win another MVP for their career resume.
But for Judge, it isn’t because Soto has been hitting behind him. It’s the exact opposite.
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