Juan Soto wasted little time in showing off his power for his new team. Again.

Soto homered in his first spring training at-bat for the New York Mets, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning against Houston on Saturday. The Mets went on to win 6-2.

“I feel like everybody was really happy. I would say the worst reaction was (teammate) Jesse Winker, that I stepped on him,” Soto said. “He was really (in) pain, but he was happy at the same time.”

Soto also homered last year in his first spring training game with the New York Yankees, belting a three-run shot in the fourth inning of that matchup with Toronto.

Soto signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract this offseason, moving across New York from the Yankees to the Mets.

He hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and drilled a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon.

The Mets may have been even more encouraged by the performance of starter Clay Holmes, another player who moved from one New York team to the other. Holmes has started just four of his 311 big league appearances, but he is converting to a starter for the Mets and threw 34 pitches Saturday in three perfect innings.

Brewers’ Perkins to miss start to season

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Blake Perkins is expected to miss the first month of the season after fracturing his right shin during batting practice.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy revealed the severity of Perkins’ injury before their Cactus League opener Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds.

“They’re estimating another three to four weeks to heal and a ramp-up of four to six weeks,” Murphy said. “So you’re probably looking at May.”

Perkins, 28, batted .240 with a .316 on-base percentage, six homers, 43 RBIs and 23 steals in 121 games last season. He also was an NL Gold Glove finalist at center field.

Reds’ Francona tells players to ignore ABS

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona says he’s told players not to use the experimental Automated Ball-Strike System in spring training.

Francona told The Athletic he’s OK with younger players challenging calls via the ABS, which has been in use in the minors. But he figures there’s little point for veterans since the system won’t be in effect in the majors during this coming regular season.

“Why work on a strategy we’re not going to use?” Francona said. “It just muddies the waters.”

Pirates, Heaney ink 1-year, $5.25M deal

Left-hander Andrew Heaney and the Pittsburgh Pirates finalized a $5.25 million, one-year contract on Saturday.

The 33-year-old is 51-62 with a 4.45 ERA during his 11-year career, mostly with the Los Angeles Angels. Heaney spent the last two seasons with Texas, winning a career-high 10 games in 2023 while helping the Rangers win their first World Series.