Yankees' Juan Soto: 'It Sucks' to See Aaron Judge Intentionally Walked by Blue Jays

Juan Soto is tired of opposing teams not giving his teammate a chance to swing the bat.

The New York Yankees outfielder voiced his disagreement about the Toronto Blue Jays intentionally walking star Aaron Judge after he was given a free base three times on Sunday.

"It sucks. You want him at the plate," Soto said, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. "I'm doing my best to put him up and you see them pass him over. It just really makes me mad. I don't like that. I want them to challenge him and see what he can really do. It is what it is. It's part of the game. They're trying to win too, so you respect that."

While the Blue Jays didn't intentionally walk Judge three times in their previous meeting on Saturday, they did go as far as to walk him with two outs and nobody on base. Toronto manager John Schneider explained his rationale after Saturday's game.

"I honestly didn't feel like seeing him swing," Schneider said, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "He's in a different category, I think, than anyone else in the league. He can flip the script of a game with one swing."

The Blue Jays won the first game of the series on Friday, but dropped Saturday and Sunday's contests. On Sunday, when Toronto walked Judge three times, it was within striking distance, losing by just one run.

ESPN's Jorge Castillo noted that the walk on Saturday made Judge the first player to be intentionally walked with the bases empty in the first two innings of a game in the past 50 seasons.

Considering the way Judge has hit this season, the lengths the Blue Jays —and other teams—went to keep him from having the chance to homer make sense. He has the most homers in the majors with 41 along with a majors-best 103 RBI. He combines that power with a solid .322 batting average, which is good for third in the majors.