After a disappointing first half of the season that seemed to put his $400 million contract in jeopardy, Juan Soto, 25, San Diego Padres, is showing off his incredible talent.
Through 109 games on the season through April 4, Soto is batting .277 with 23 home runs, 70 RBI, 63 runs scored, 104 runs batted in, a .424 OPS and a .950 slugging percentage.
Juan Soto. Photo by Getty Images
That’s a sharp jump from an OPS that dipped back into the .800s right after the All-Star break, and it also puts Soto atop the league in his biggest strength: slugging percentage.
Soto was at his worst in April. In 29 games, he hit just .202 with a .757 OPS. It looked like a $400 million contract was in jeopardy.메이저사이트
However, Soto started to heat up in May, posting a monthly OPS over 0.900 in each of the three months from May through July.
In particular, Soto made a complete turnaround at the plate, hitting .328 with eight home runs, 23 RBIs, 12 doubles, 22 runs scored, and a .446 OPS of 1.192 in his last 19 games.
A return to the Soto everyone knows. Of course, he’s still far from his career-high non-shortened season of 2021. The April slump is a big one.
At the time, Soto was batting .313 with 29 home runs and 95 RBIs, along with a .465 OPS and .999 slugging percentage in 151 games for the Washington Nationals.
There are about two months left in the season. If Soto continues his hot streak, it could be a huge boost not only for his personal record, but also for San Diego, which is aiming for a wild-card berth.