Juan Soto’s first Mets at-bat could not have gone any better.
The $765 million outfielder, batting second in the Mets’ spring training opener, crushed a 2-1 offering from Astros lefty Colton Gordon over the left-center field wall for a solo homer in Port St. Lucie on Saturday afternoon.
It traveled 426 feet at 106.2 mph — an impressive shot in his debut in blue and orange.
Mets play-by-play man Gary Cohen quipped on SNY that Soto made the “first down payment on the next car,” giving a nod to the $92,000 Chevy Tahoe he gifted Brett Baty earlier this week for giving up No. 22.
In his second at-bat, he stepped up with the bases loaded and drove in a run with a fielder’s choice to put the Mets up 3-0 in the second inning.
Soto was the prize of free agency, and with multiple teams in the mix, the Mets came out on top after he bolted the Yankees for the Amazin’s on a 15-year contract.
He said earlier this week that he’s used to the different vibe that New York has to offer after he played one season in The Bronx and helped the Yankees reach their first World Series since 2009.
“[New York] is a different vibe,” Soto said. “You have so many eyes on you. You have so many teams that want to come in and beat you because you are part of the city. Broadway and everything, everybody wants to come in and beat the New York teams.”
After hitting a career-high 41 homers last year, Soto started this year — granted it’s still the exhibition season — with a bang.
