Soto helps Nats move on after Bryce Harper
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—It might seem as if Juan Soto has a big hole to fill in the Washington Nationals’ lineup, what with Bryce Harper gone.
Soto is not the sort to worry about that type of thing, though. Last season’s surprise runner-up as NL Rookie of the Year at age 19, he’s carefree and self-believing as can be, by all accounts.
Which is good, because he could very well be the No. 3 hitter for Washington, counted on to make the offense go. Everyone around Soto seems to think he’ll be up for whatever challenges Year 2 brings.
“He’s as ready as you could possibly be at, shoot, 20 years old,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle said Thursday, before Soto homered for the second consecutive exhibition game. “He has a very mature approach—the way he prepares. He loves doing all the work behind the scenes. He’s always in the cage or in the weight room. Keeps his head down. He’s a quiet guy, by nature, and he doesn’t seek out the spotlight.”
Young as he is, Soto sounds like an old soul, speaking about the “process” of spring training during his first taste of big league camp—he started last season, believe it or not, at low-A ball—and getting ready for the regular season “step by step, every day.”
Asked whether he can improve on what he showed last year, Soto crossed his arms and replied: “My approach with that is: just the same.”
The Nationals certainly would take more of the same.
Soto made his debut last May after all of eight games at Double-A and he hit .292 with 22 homers, 25 doubles and 70 RBIs in only 116 games. He walked a whopping 79 times, helping produce a .406 on-base percentage. His slugging percentage was .517. His three multihomer games were the most by a teenager in big league history.
No one is too worried about Soto’s hitting. The two key areas that need shoring up: defense and baserunning.