“We had an intrasquad game the other day,” stated Josh Rogers, a Washington Nationals teammate for all of half a season. “I was hoping I didn’t have to face him — even then.”
“The problem with him is: He controls the time,” stated Erick Fedde, a teammate from Soto’s rookie season of 2018 via this season. “ … You can see and feel that it’s his game, not the pitcher’s.”
This is a spring coaching dialog that may be met with levity, notably within the Nationals’ clubhouse right here, as a result of these guys don’t need to face Soto in a state of affairs that issues — except and till they alter uniforms. But in different clubhouses, notably because the calendar marches towards summer season, that is severe discourse. Over the previous two seasons, no hitter in baseball has been harder to retire than Soto.
“There’s a reason he’s, I mean,” stated lefty Patrick Corbin, pausing as if questioning whether or not he ought to say out loud what he was about to say out loud, “the best hitter in baseball.”
There could be debate about that title. There isn’t any debate that Soto is in that dialog. There are stats that show it. Cherry-pick a pair: Since 2010, the one participant to have a greater on-base proportion than Soto’s .465 from final season was … Soto within the covid-shortened 2020 season, when he posted a .490 OBP. Soto’s stroll fee that season, 20.9 %, was additionally the most effective within the majors since 2010 — till Soto walked in 22.2 % of his at-bats final yr. Over the previous two seasons, nobody has the next on-base-plus-slugging proportion than Soto’s 1.042. Only one participant has the next common. Only two gamers have the next slugging proportion.
But extra telling than something that may be extracted from a field rating is how main leaguers discuss Soto. There is a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment, to not point out monumental respect. When Doolittle, a Nationals reliever from 2017-2020 and once more now, went to Cincinnati after which Seattle final season, one of many first questions his new teammates had for him: What’s Soto like?
“Guys around the league, they have so much respect for him,” Doolittle stated. “They just want to know about him because he’s so good and he’s so young.”
A reminder: He’s nonetheless 23. This, then, is an effective level to acknowledge that each column about Soto ought to, ultimately, deal with his long-term future in Washington. So right here’s the drum that may’t be banged sufficient: Sign him. Sign him, signal him, signal him for eternity. Yes, it is a two-way avenue, and as Soto stated right here this week, “We know our value.” That worth is nearer to half a billion {dollars} than it’s to the $350 million Soto stated he turned down this winter. So present him with it.
The justification isn’t what Soto has achieved, although that might be motive sufficient. It’s due to how he’s doing it, which suggests it’s sustainable. As he heads into his fifth main league season, Soto’s success is a few mixture of diligence and self-discipline, athleticism and aptitude — all mixed with a relentlessness he brings not simply to every season or every sport, however to every at-bat.
“For me, it’s all about pre-pitch for him,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez stated. “He really understands: one, who he’s facing; two, how he feels like the guy wants to get him out; and three, what he needs to do to be able to hit this guy. He always has a plan, and it’s almost every pitch.”
It has lengthy been famous that baseball is the one sport wherein the protection has the ball, and subsequently must be in management. A continuing theme when discussing Soto: He in some way takes management.
“He’s the kind of guy that commands the at-bat,” Rogers stated, “rather than the pitcher commanding the at-bat.”
Part of that’s due to Soto’s steadfast refusal to swing at pitches outdoors the strike zone. Last yr, he swung at simply 15.1 % of pitches outdoors the zone. The subsequent lowest fee within the majors: 19.1 %. In reality, in keeping with the important website FanGraphs, Soto’s season was essentially the most disciplined of any main league hitter since 2010.
“He’s not going give you anything,” Doolittle stated. “He doesn’t expand. He doesn’t chase.”
Which is the best consider establishing the management Soto appears to have over each at-bat. But there’s extra. Soto’s stance is unfold out and large, which helps give him steadiness. That’s not distinctive. What is: His skill to cowl the plate — each out and in and up and down — and nonetheless generate energy even with out a lot of a stride.
“Not a lot of guys have the strength and mobility to be able to rotate their hips when they’re that spread out,” Doolittle stated. “Not a lot of guys are able to create leverage when they’re that spread out. He does all these things. He does them incredibly well.”
Doolittle stated that, in making ready for hitters, pitchers not solely watch video from the middle subject digital camera, however they take a look at pictures from the dugout. That view exhibits a hitter’s swing path, which might reveal areas wherein he could be exploited. Maybe it’s the way in which he masses his fingers. Maybe it’s the trail his bat takes. But there’s all the time a vulnerability.
“There’s no hole,” Doolittle stated. “His bat’s in the zone early and it’s in the zone the whole time. And it’s like that whether he’s swinging at the top of the zone or at the bottom of the zone, whether it’s an off-speed pitch or a fastball. It’s tough, man.
“You have to catch yourself too, because you’ll start trying to reinvent the wheel yourself as a pitcher. You start looking for a sequence or a way to get him out. And you’re like, ‘Oh, shoot, I don’t have a curveball.’”
So Soto can beat you along with his eye. He can beat you along with his athleticism. He can beat you along with his energy. And he can beat you with psychology.
“I compare him a lot with Miguel Cabrera,” stated Sánchez, who was teammates with the long run Hall of Famer in each Miami and Detroit. “Miggy is so smart at the plate, and he is like Soto. They don’t go to the plate with no knowledge. They know what they’re going to do. They know what they’re going to wait for. And they know what kind of swing they’re going to do in any situation. It’s their head.”
That’s true within the warmth of the season. But it’s additionally true down right here, the place the video games don’t matter. On Wednesday in his first at-bat towards Miami, Soto tagged Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, a former all-star, with a mammoth house run to middle. In his subsequent at-bat, he barely missed a pitch from Alcantara, and flew out.
“I just get a little jammed,” he stated, after which he smiled. “I got to give them a chance to feel comfortable, too.”
He is aware of there isn’t any good reply to the query, “How do you get Juan Soto out?” So he’s snug. In the field. In his pores and skin. And with regardless of the future holds.