Soto is MLB’s ‘poster child’ for controlling the strike zone (so don’t panic about 3 Ks vs. Nestor)
TAMPA — Long before the Yankees acquired Juan Soto from the Padres, Aaron Boone would listen to his father’s rave reviews of the slugger.
Bob Boone, a baseball lifer with two All-Star sons, worked for the Nationals from 2005-2021, a span that included roles in player development. That period overlapped with Soto’s early days in Washington’s organization.
“My dad tells me how much he loved him when he was in the low, low minor leagues,” Aaron Boone told the Daily News. “He would tell me, ‘I told these guys he was the best hitter in the organization when he was in A-Ball.’”
Never mind that Soto, who signed out of the Dominican Republic, would have been 17 or 18 at the time. “My dad certainly claims that he was on him early and often,” Boone continued, though he acknowledged that others deserve credit for discovering Soto.
Even at an adolescent age, Soto demonstrated patience at the plate, recording on-base percentages well-above .400 in each of his minor league seasons while keeping his strikeout-to-walk ratio close to even. That trait helped the left-handed swinger debut in 2018 as a 19-year-old.
Now 25, Soto has become a “poster child” for controlling the strike zone, according to Boone. He owns a .421 OBP for his six-year career, and he’s led the league in walks the last three years. While Soto struck out in each of his three tries against Nestor Cortes during live batting practice on Tuesday, the outfielder hasn’t K’d more than he’s walked in a season since 2019, when he still boasted a .401 OBP.
“His ability to control the strike zone is probably top in the league I would guess,” new Yankees reliever Caleb Ferguson, an ex-Dodger who faced Soto in the NL West, told The News.
Just last year, Soto led qualified players with an 18.6% walk rate and finished third with a 1.02 BB/K rate. His 16.6% chase rate ranked in the 99th percentile.
Soto did all that while hitting a career-high 35 home runs. He also finished with 109 RBI and a .275 average.
“I think he’s the best hitter in baseball,” Marcus Stroman said. “I’ve said that before. I came up in the AL East. I faced Papi, I faced A-Rod, I faced all those guys. Juan Soto’s judgment of the strike zone is unheard of.”
Soto said that he started focusing on his ability to control the zone as a minor leaguer, and he never stopped.
“I work on it every day,” Soto said, noting that tee work is part of his routine.
Trent Grisham, whom the Yankees acquired from the Padres alongside Soto, added that the 2020 batting champ is “very diligent about what he’s going to swing at in the cage every day.”
“Which most big league hitters can do,” Grisham told The News. “But the way he takes it out into the game is really the most impressive part.”
“I just let it go by,” Soto said. “I just tried to train myself like that. And I think it’s been helping me the most just to know the strike zone well and do what I do.”
Soto makes it sound so easy, essentially boiling his approach down to laying off of bad pitches. But if it were that simple, everyone would be great at controlling the zone.
Instead, Soto’s gift is so superior that Boone likened him to Barry Bonds during his Monday press conference.
“Barry Bonds would get pitched around all weekend long, and the one pitch that showed up in the strike zone, he’d hit it into McCovey Cove,” Boone said, making it clear that his comparison only pertained to controlling the zone. “I mean, that’s something different than we’ve probably ever seen at a time when offense was more explosive.”
The reality is that pitchers today are nastier than they’ve ever been. To do what Soto does requires unique talent — and a special set of eyeballs.
Though that’s not to say that players can’t improve their discipline.
“You’re certainly blessed with that and there’s probably a DNA portion of that and a God-given ability to some of that,” Boone said. “But you can absolutely move the needle and become better and better in that as you evolve in your career.
“It’s nuanced. Some people have it. Some people don’t. But to say you can’t move the needle and get better at it is not right either.”
Boone said that he wished he had been better at controlling the zone as a player. Another way that Soto works on it is by studying opposing pitchers, as well as hitters.
“He’s a student of the game,” Nationals skipper Dave Martinez, Soto’s first big league manager, told The News. “Like he knows what’s going on around the league. He pays attention to everything, pitching, hitting. He really loves the game and he loves watching other players.”
One thing Soto surprisingly doesn’t do is homework on umpires.
Human error means umps won’t always have the same perception of the zone as him. However, some pitchers believe officials defer to Soto, given his reputation.
“Umpires know that he knows the zone,” Carlos Rodón told The News. “Everybody knows. So he’s very collected in the box.”
Added Stroman: “I feel like he knows the strike zone better than umpires a lot of times. If he usually says it’s a ball, it’s usually a ball.”
While Soto doesn’t analyze umpires’ scouting reports, he will chat them up during games. Doing so can give him a clearer picture of that day’s zone or an umpire’s tendencies.
“I really like to have a good conversation with them and keep in touch with them and see where their strike zones and their strengths are that day,” Soto said. “I just talk to them and make them feel comfortable.”
So what’s a pitcher to do when Soto is in the batter’s box? Rodón said that getting ahead in the count early is key. So is inducing contact that doesn’t do damage. Even giving up a single against a player of Soto’s caliber can feel like a victory for pitchers.
Ferguson said that he’s tried to mix up his timing against Soto, but that doesn’t guarantee success.
“He doesn’t swing at the pitches I want him to swing at,” the lefty lamented.
Righties can relate.
“I feel like most guys take much longer — they’re recognizing ball or strike when the ball is right around them,” Stroman said. “I feel like Juan’s able to recognize it out of hand. He’s incredible.”
Indeed, Soto’s strike zone command, united with his propensity for impacting the ball, makes for a “deadly combination,” Boone said. It’s one that the Yankees are happy to have, if only for a year.
Their pitchers are especially excited, as they won’t have to put up with Soto’s patience in 2024.
“I don’t know what the numbers are. I’m assuming he’s probably winning the war [between us],” Rodón conceded before a joyful outburst. “But he’s on my team now!”