Juan Soto is face of the Washington Nationals, the marquee player and a World Series champion. And yet he isn’t even 22 years of age.
Wednesday Soto’s youth came to light after the 21-year old phenom hit the second of his two home runs against the New York Mets.
Soto drove Mets left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson’s cutter 403 feet to left center. The blast was Soto’s 60th career home run, tying him with Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr for fifth most homers before turning 22 years of age.
Soto has emerged as a megastar since being called up in 2018. At 19 years old, Soto finished runner-up to Ronald Acuna for NL Rookie of the Year with 22 home runs. Last season, he upped his homer total to 34, as he emerged as the power of the Nationals’ lineup during their run to the World Series title.
This season, he missed the first seven games of the season due to a positive test for COVID-19. Since being cleared, Soto is hitting .423 with a 1.444 OPS. Of his four home this season, two have been absolute moonshots.
On Monday, Soto hit a 463-foot home run to dead center at Citi Field. That was his longest home run of his career until Wednesday night, when he hit a 466-foot blast that nearly exited the Mets’ stadium.
With a World Series already in hand, Soto is now adding to his growing legacy.
