Juan Soto gives inside look at his clutch ALCS-winning home run blast for Yankees against Guardians 

Juan Soto's young career already has several clutch hitting moments. Last season, when he played for the New York Yankees, he showed his hitting masterclass against Cleveland Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Soto and Gaddis had an epic faceoff with things tied 2-2 in the top of the 10th inning. The reliever got to the count 1-2 following which Soto battled each one of Gaddis' pitches to avoid getting retired. He continuously hit foul balls to survive for another pitch.

During an interview with MLB Network on Thursday, Soto gave a breakdown of the entire at-bat.

"I mean I was prepared. I definitely have one of that bad since the beginning of the inning," Soto said. "I was going through it, you know, he make great pitches and I just keep finding it off hitting the ball. Try to make him frustrated, you know, try to find a weakness."

Soto also mentioned the one pitch which got him lit up. Soto was able to foul off a dropping changeup from Gaddis, which he now recalled as a pivotal moment of that at-bat.

"Right here this changeup. I thought I followed all that change up. Yeah, he's when I say I'm locked he got no chance like literally he threw his best pitch," Soto added. "He got me off timing. He moved my feet and I still found it off. I'm like it's nothing else you can do now."

Shortly after the left-handed hitter hit a high-rising fastball to center field for a three-run homer to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead and subsequently win the game and advance to the World Series.

In the Fall Classic title, the Yankees couldn't live up to the expectations, as the LA Dodgers made easy work of them and won the series in five games.

Juan Soto credits hitting coach for mastering his swing

During the same interview, Juan Soto gave a shout out to longtime hitting coach, Troy Greenridge, who played a crucial role in shaping his routine.

"We always thought about when my hitting coach created my routine, you know, Troy Greenridge," Soto said. "He might build a whole routine with me down in my leagues with the Nationals, and he just taught me everything."

Soto's approach at the plate is different from the growing trend of launch angles in today's game. While many hitters focus on elevating the ball, he sticks to what works best for him — hitting with backspin to generate line drives and power to all fields.

"He's trying to make me go short to the ball and try to get on top of the ball most of the time," he added. "Nowadays, they're talking about a lot of launch angles and everything, but what works for me is getting on top of the ball."

Now that he has changed teams in the offseason, Soto shoulders the responsibility of taking the New York Mets to the World Series in 2025.