The Gold Glove Awards this year have caused quite a stir both in the NL and the AL side of the world. In the National League, Francisco Lindor, who played amazingly well, was snubbed from making the list. The American League side, too, was not without any eyebrow-raisers! The Yankees have three finalists for the AL Gold Glove this year – Anthony Volpe, Alex Verdugo; but the last and most surprising nominee is Juan Soto.

Volpe had already won the award last year as a rookie, and Verdugo’s shenanigans throughout the season make him an expected nominee. But Soto? No doubt, he has been a great addition to the New York Yankee lineup, but his defensive prowess has never been his strongest suit. That’s not talk on a whim; in fact, an advanced metric that placed him in the middle of the pack. However, Aaron Boone isn’t surprised and says he expected this to happen.

Aaron Boone  unfazed by unlikely Juan Soto Gold Glove nomination

The process of voting for the gold glove is in the hands of the manager and coaches, but the remaining 25% is based on advanced metrics. Even the advanced defensive metrics placed Soto somewhere in the middle of the pack. So, Juan Soto was hardly in the vicinity of the Gold Glove—yet, he made it to the finalist list. But while that is shocking to some, it’s not for Aaron Boone.

“I’m not surprised,” Boone mentioned before the Yankees 6-3 win in Game 2 of the ALCS. According to the Yankee manager, although a manager can’t vote for their player, they do get the ballot two or three weeks before. And that time he had seen Soto’s name pop up—so not such a surprise for him after all. However, Aaron Boone did mention that although Soto has some key standout moments in the right field, there were still bumps along the way too.

But in the end, for him, it’s not just talent but also the heart that matters. So Soto being the young athletic guy who cares about what he does out on the diamond is what Boone believes makes his star player a perfect Gold Glove nomination. Moreover, Soto seems to be feared by competitors, as we saw in Game 2 of the ALCS.

Cleveland Guardians take Juan Soto as a bigger threat than Judge 

Judge has had an exceptional regular season – his accomplishments were metered along with Babe Ruth! If one had said that a team would intentionally walk Juan Soto and face Aaron Judge instead with the base loaded, the reaction would be—one has to be crazy! But this happened during Game 2 of the ALCS with the New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians.

For most, it almost felt like an insult to Aaron Judge; his competitors thought his slump in the postseason made his opponent see him as an easy target. But Judge didn’t mind the move. Manager of the Cleaveland Guardians, Stephen Vogt talked about his move, saying, “They were hitting the ball around the ballpark, and we needed to stop the game.” Well, this sure was a master plan—well, almost!

Things didn’t work out as the Guardians had planned; instead, Aaron Judge hit a sacrifice fly to lose the Yankee lead to 3-0. Later in the game, he also smacked his first postseason homer, finally making the comeback his fans were hoping for. This is a lesson on how unpredictable the baseball game is – Judge had shown no signs of a comeback, and there he was, sealing the Yankee win. So, he could get back into his groove, and Soto, well, he sure is a danger, and could get walked more often.