Fans rip Stephen A Smith for botching Yankees facts during live show

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It’s clear ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith hasn’t been watching much New York Yankees baseball this season after his massive blunder during "First Take" on Thursday. 

During his segment with Chris Russo and Molly Qerim at the "First Take" desk, Smith was discussing who is having the more impressive season between Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani – two frontrunners for MVP in their respective leagues. 

But during his talk about Judge, Smith’s argument involved having Soto hit behind Judge in the lineup.

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Stephen A. Smith (IMAGN)

"But you do got Juan Soto batting behind you," Smith said. "They can’t get around you a little bit. They got to pitch to the brother, you understand what I’m saying, because you’ve got Soto waiting in the wings. So, all of those things facilitate Aaron Judge behind who he is."

The problem with that statement from Smith is the lack of facts: Judge hasn't hit in front of Soto all season. 

Instead, manager Aaron Boone has had Soto hitting in the No. 2 hole followed by Judge in the third slot in the lineup. 

WHY AARON JUDGE MIGHT BE HAVING THE BEST OFFENSIVE SEASON BY A RIGHT-HANDED HITTER EVER

So, if anything, Soto’s presence ahead of Judge, who is pacing to break records secured in his MVP 2022 campaign, has been forcing pitchers to go after the left-hander more so they can pitch around Judge. 

The problem with that, though, has been Soto having an amazing season himself. Not only has he set a new career-high with 37 homers, but he owns a .421 on-base percentage, which would be his third-best mark of his career to date if the