Yankees’ Juan Soto Left Bewildered After Ump Denies Timeout on Controversial Strikeout

Kristen Wong | Jun 23, 2024

Screengrab on Twitter/ @BravesOnBally

New York Yankees star slugger Juan Soto found himself on the wrong side of the plate—and the wrong side of the umpires—in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves.

At the bottom of the eighth, Soto appeared to try to call a timeout with two strikes. His request came too late and wasn’t granted by home plate umpire Chris Conroy, leading Braves pitcher Joe Jimenez to strike Soto out with a pitch down the middle while Soto’s back was turned. 

Soto unsuccessfully attempted to appeal to the umpires before shuffling back to the dugout.

Juan Soto shuffles off to the dugout...after K'ing/not being granted time. 😀 pic.twitter.com/Dw2eCNShYR

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 23, 2024

In the replay, it looked as though Jimenez had already started his wind-up by the time Soto called time, albeit the call does appear to be very close. A batter can request a timeout from the umpire once per plate appearance but must do so before the pitcher’s motion has begun. 

After the Braves’ 3-1 win, Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed Soto’s strikeout incident.

“Yeah, he said he had started up by the time he called time,” Boone said. “I looked at it—it’s close. I get it from Chris’ standpoint, it’s really close, but he did say it before he rose up.”