Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the Washington Nationals trading Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in a blockbuster deal. Soto’s time with the Padres has been mixed. But a recent two-game surge came at a peculiar time.
On Tuesday, on the eve of his trade anniversary, Soto hit two home runs against the Colorado Rockies. The next day he hit a home run that nearly cleared the Rocky Mountains, figuratively, in the Padres’ 11-1 win.
It was the first time Soto hit three home runs in a two-game span with the Padres, per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.
Soto accomplished the feat six times with the Nationals, with an occurrence happening at least once each season from 2019-2022. Soto hit three home runs over two games three times last season with the Nats before getting traded to the Padres.
In Washington, Soto won a batting title, led MLB in walks two consecutive years, and wins-above-replacement in 2021.
The Padres would love for Soto to tap into his old Nats days. San Diego is 54-55 on the season, 8.5 games behind first-place in the NL West, and four games out of the final NL wild-card spot, a year after reaching the NLCS.
Last year, Soto had a down year, as he seemed affected by the trade before and after. He stumbled through 22 home runs and 62 RBI between the two teams, and his WAR dropped from 7.1 to 1.8 during the final stretch with the Padres.
This season, he’s improved his hitting to .277 with a .950 OPS, 23 home runs, and 70 RBI. Yet, it’s not near the pop he had in his four-and-half seasons with the Nats.
It’s always nice to hit in the Mile High air of Colorado. But, based on his history, this could be the spark Juan Soto needs. Maybe he’s finally put getting traded by the Nats behind him.
