Juan Soto set the tone in masterful Yankees debut

HOUSTON — New Yankees superstar Juan Soto seemed relaxed and happy before his debut in what is usually a house of horrors for his new team. If Soto knew anything about the recent pinstriped history here, he wasn’t letting on.

Soto also wasn’t hiding his excitement for his new beginning with his third major league franchise at age 25. That’s an unusual winding route for a young wunderkind. But he knows this isn’t just any franchise, and he seems happy to be part of the history now.

“This is going to be great. This is going to be fun. This is going to be amazing,” Soto told The Post a couple hours before his first game in pinstripes.

If there were jitters, he wasn’t showing them before — or certainly during — the game, which turned into a rousing Opening Day success in a 5-4 Yankees victory Thursday over their nemesis Astros after a rough beginning. Soto had a typical offensive performance for him, then put on a beautiful defensive punctuation mark in Game 1 of what the Yankees hope will become a long and storied career in New York following his fabulous start in Washington and San Diego.

In a script made for a star, Soto wound up saving the day, his first in pinstripes.

“That was a Yankee classic — Juan’s debut,” captain Aaron Judge said afterward. “It speaks volumes about the type of player he is and the type of presence he has.”