Juan Soto No-Look Shuffle Adjustment: Did Juan Soto switch to a more humble shuffle?

New Soto No-Look Shuffle: After Juan Soto took a low 1-2 pitch from Miami Marlins’ starter Pablo López in his first at bat of Saturday night’s game, he did his trademark Soto Shuffle, a two-step l’il thing in the batter’s box where he kicks the dirt beneath his feet like a soon-to-be-charging bull and “readjusts” before stepping back in.

The difference from last year? Soto didn’t stare out at the mound like he did in his rookie campaign. It’s something that manager Davey Martinez mentioned he’d talked to the 20-year-old outfielder about early this Spring.

“That’s something that was created by a lot of different people, but that’s his way to get into the next pitch and keeping him engaged,” Martinez explained.

“That’s all he does. I think he’s going to be fine, I really do.”

Asked if he thought it might be taken the wrong way by an opposing pitcher at some point, Martinez said that was what they’d discussed.

“We talk a lot about it,” the second-year skipper told reporters.

“But you know, they’ve got to understand that, like I said, it’s his way of keeping engaged in the at bat and getting to that next pitch. That’s all it is.

“He’s not showing anybody up. He’s not — we talked to him about it, and to a sense, we also told him, ‘Hey, look, every now and then — I know you get into the moment and you don’t realize you do it, but just back it down a little bit.”

Is keeping his head down while he does it Soto’s attempt to back it down a little bit?

[ed. note - “Are we purposefully making a bigger deal out of this than necessary because we thought it was funny that MASN’s FP Santangelo found it humorous on the broadcast of the game on Saturday night? Maybe. But just maybe.”]