Major League Baseball

Juan Soto on Mets' Luis Severino's Yankees jab: 'They can think whatever they want'

Updated Jul. 23, 2024 7:54 p.m. ET

New York Mets right-hander and former New York Yankees ace Luis Severino added some flavor to Part 2 of the 2024 version of the Subway Series upon revealing last week that he told former teammates of his on the Yankees that they "only have two good hitters" after they joked that the right-hander was scared to pitch against them.

Severino later elaborated that he was joking around with his old friends and that he still roots for the Yankees from afar.

"There were a lot of people, but I know that the guys from the team know that I was joking," Severino told the New York Post on Monday. "A lot of fans went crazy about it. The guys that I really care about are the team, and they knew I was joking around. Sometimes somebody is going to be pissed, but in the end, I wasn't trying to hurt anybody."

But Yankees star Juan Soto — who's in his first season with the team and did not play with the current Mets pitcher — responded to Severino's jab at the Yankees.

"It is what it is. They can think whatever they want," Soto told ESPN on Tuesday.

Severino's joke is based on how the Yankees' lineup has been inordinately reliant on 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge and Soto, who have combined for 60 of the team's 146 home runs this season. The duo of 2024 All-Star starters also make up the only two active everyday players on the Yankees who boast an OPS north of .750, which is considered roughly average.

Soto, who appeared in his fourth MLB All-Star Game last week, entered the Yankees' Tuesday night game against the Mets having totaled 25 home runs and 71 RBIs, while sporting a .311/.435/.594 slash line.

In what's his first season with the Mets, Severino has posted a 3.58 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 88 strikeouts across 115.2 innings (19 starts). Severino posted a 6.65 ERA in his final season with the Yankees (2023) and hasn't pitched a full season since 2018 due to elbow and shoulder injuries, among others.

The Yankees and Mets faced off earlier this season in Queens, with the Mets sweeping the two-game set and out-scoring the Yankees 21-9. They square off for the final time this week in the Bronx, but Severino isn't slated to start either game of the two-game slate.

The two teams are going in opposite directions. While the Yankees are 60-42 — which is good for the first AL wild-card seed and 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East — they've lost 20 of their last 30 games. On the other hand, while the Mets are just 51-48 — good for the third NL wild-card seed and third in the NL East — they've won 27 of their last 40. It remains to be seen just what exactly the resurgent Mets will do before the MLB trade deadline next week, but the team is reportedly unlikely to trade All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, who will be a free agent next winter.

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