Juan Soto

Early life

Soto was born on October 25, 1998, to Juan Soto Sr. and Belkis Pacheco in Santo Domingo. He has an older sister and a younger brother, Elian, who signed with the Nationals as an international free agent once he became eligible in January 2023. His father was a salesman and a catcher in a local men's league and encouraged his sons to make baseball their passion. Soto is naturally right-handed and was encouraged by his father to throw left-handed for an athletic advantage.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Soto signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent for a $1.5 million signing bonus in July 2015. He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Gulf Coast League Nationals in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) and was named the GCL's most valuable player after hitting .368 with five home runs and 32 runs batted in (RBIs). In September 2016 he was promoted to the Auburn Doubledays of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League near the end of the 2016 season. Appearing in six games for the Doubledays, he went 9-for-21 (.429) with three doubles and an RBI. He finished the 2016 season with an overall batting average of .368, five home runs, and 32 RBIs.

Promoted to play with the Hagerstown Suns of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2017, Soto got off to a hot start before injuring his ankle while sliding into home in a game on May 2 and landing on the disabled list. At the time of his injury, he was batting .360 with three home runs in 23 games with the Suns. In July 2017, MLB Pipeline ranked Soto the Nationals' second-best prospect and the 42nd-best among all prospects. Soto did not return to the Suns in 2017, but he had two rehabilitation stints with the GCL Nationals, one of five games in July 2017 and a second one of four games in September 2017 before injuring his hamstring and finally being shut down for the season. In those nine games in the GCL, he went 8-for-25 (.320) with a double, a triple, and four RBIs. He finished the 2017 season with a batting average of .351, three home runs, and 18 RBIs.

Soto entered 2018 as one of the minor leagues' top prospects. He started the season with Hagerstown, hitting .373 in 16 games with five home runs and 24 RBIs, before being promoted in late April to the Potomac Nationals in the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. After 15 games with Potomac, in which he hit .371 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs, he was promoted in mid-May to the Harrisburg Senators in the Double-A Eastern League. He had appeared in eight games for the Senators, going 10-for-31 (.323) with two doubles, two home runs, and 10 RBIs. On May 20, the Nationals called him up to the major leagues for the first time to reinforce their outfield after an injury to second baseman and outfielder Howie Kendrick.

Washington Nationals (2018–2022)

Soto made his major-league debut on May 20, 2018, becoming the youngest player in the major leagues at 19 years, 207 days and the first player born in 1998 to appear in a major-league game. He came on as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park and struck out swinging against right-handed reliever Erik Goeddel.

Soto made his first major-league start the next day, playing left field in a game against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park, and on the first pitch of his first plate appearance of the game, got his first major-league hit, a 422 ft (129 m) opposite-field three-run homer off Robbie Erlin. After rounding the bases and returning to the dugout, Soto stepped back out for a curtain call from the crowd. He became the youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run and the first teenager to homer in a major-league game since teammate Bryce Harper did it at age 19 in 2012. "He's a special player," Harper said of Soto after the game. Soto became the youngest major league player since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989 to be intentionally walked in a game when Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter elected to do so rather than give him an opportunity to drive in a run on May 29.

In June, shortly after Soto was called up to the major leagues, Baseball America listed him as the Nationals' top prospect, overtaking fellow outfielder Víctor Robles, and the fourth-best overall prospect in baseball. Soto contributed to a notable oddity when he hit a home run against the New York Yankees on June 18. The contest began on May 15, five days before Soto made his major league debut, but was suspended until June 18 due to inclement weather with the score at 3–3. Since the stoppage occurred at the end of the fifth inning, a team would have been awarded the win if they were ahead, which implied that he had technically hit a home run before his MLB debut. To prevent confusion, it was added in sequence to his already accrued home run total as his sixth home run. It was also one of three home runs Soto hit in his first five plate appearances against the Yankees.

On June 21, he started as the cleanup hitter for the first time in the major leagues, against the Baltimore Orioles. He doubled home the winning run in a 4–2 victory. Soto's first multi-home run game came on June 13 against the Yankees, and he repeated the feat on June 29, at Citizens Bank Park against the Philadelphia Phillies, tallying two home runs, four hits, and five RBIs as the Nationals defeated the Phillies 17–7. Soto had another multi-home run game against the Phillies on September 11, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the second game of a doubleheader. On September 16, Soto became the youngest player to steal 3 bases in a game, breaking Rickey Henderson's mark of 20 years, 241 days by accomplishing the feat at 19 years, 326 days.

San Diego Padres (2022–2023)

On August 2, 2022, the Nationals traded Soto and Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres in exchange for CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell, James Wood, Jarlín Susana, and Luke Voit. The magnitude of the trade drew comparisons to the Herschel Walker trade in the NFL.

On August 12, just ten days after being traded to the Padres, Soto faced the Nationals in Washington, where he received a 45-second-long standing ovation from the crowd. For the remainder of the 2022 season with the Padres, Soto played 51 games with the team, compiling a .236 batting average, 6 home runs, 16 RBIs, and 36 walks. He reached the 2022 NLCS with the Padres, hitting two home runs in the series as they lost in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Overall in 2022, combined with both teams, Soto played 152 total games with a .242 batting average, 27 home runs, 62 RBIs, and an MLB-leading 135 walks. He walked in 20.3% of his plate appearances, tops in the major leagues, and had the highest walk/strikeout rate in the majors, at 1.41. He swung at a lower percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (19.9%) than any other major league batter.

On January 13, 2023, Soto signed a one-year, $23 million contract with the Padres, avoiding salary arbitration. Overall in 2023, Soto played in all 162 games with a .275 batting average, 35 home runs, 109 RBIs and an MLB-leading 132 walks.

New York Yankees (2024)

On December 6, 2023, the Padres traded Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees for Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez, and Kyle Higashioka. Soto and the Yankees avoided salary arbitration prior to the start of the 2024 season, agreeing to a one-year contract worth $31 million.

From March 28 to 31, Soto went 9-for-17 with a home run, a double and four RBI and also collected an outfield assist on Opening Day by throwing out the tying run at the plate on the penultimate play of the game. On April 1, Soto was named the American League Player of the Week for the first week of the season.

On June 3, following a week that included Soto slashing .435/.500/1.000, with two home runs in a game against the San Francisco Giants, including the go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth inning, he was named the AL Player of the Week for the second time. Soto was named as a starting outfielder for the American League in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

On August 13, Soto hit three home runs in a 4–1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, registering all four RBIs for the game. It was the first time he recorded three home runs in a single game in his career. On August 14, Soto hit a solo home run to deep right in his first at-bat and became the 6th Yankee to hit a home run in 4 straight at-bats (joining the list with Lou Gehrig in 1932, Johnny Blanchard in 1961, Mickey Mantle in 1962, Bobby Murcer in 1970, and Reggie Jackson in 1977).

On August 21, in an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians, Soto hit a two-run home run to deep center in his first at-bat for his 36th of the season, giving him a new career-high in a single season. He became the first Yankee in the expansion era (since 1961), to hit a home run for 8 straight hits (dating from August 11 against the Texas Rangers) and the first player in all of baseball since Joey Votto in July 2021. On September 17, in a 11-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Soto hit a two-run homer in the 4th inning and reached the milestone of hitting a home run in all 30 current Major League stadiums. It was also his career-high 40th homer and the 200th career homer for Soto, who became the seventh-youngest player in Major League history to reach the plateau, at 25 years and 328 days old.

New York Mets (2025–present)

On December 11, 2024, Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, the largest contract in professional sports history. The contract gave him a $75 million signing bonus and contained a club option between 2030–2039 that would increase the base salary by $4 million per year, which if declined would allow him to opt out after the 2029 season.

On March 28, 2025, Soto hit his first home run as a Met, a solo shot to right field off of Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown, giving the Mets a 3–1 victory and their first win of the season. Soto's Citi Field debut as a Met came on April 4, during the first home game of the season. He hit an RBI double in the 6th inning, leading the Mets to a 5–0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. From March 27 to April 9, Soto had an 11-game on-base streak, the longest to start a season in his career. During that span, he batted .279/.404/.442 with one home run, 4 RBI, 4 doubles, and 9 walks.

On May 1, Soto hit two home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4–2 loss. They were his first home runs at Citi Field as a Met, and it was Soto's 24th multi-homer game of his career. Soto had another multi-homer game on May 7 against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field in a 7–1 Mets victory, his second in two weeks.

On May 16, Soto made his first return to Yankee Stadium since signing with the Mets. His return to the Stadium was described on ESPN.com as "perhaps the most anticipated meeting between the clubs since the 2000 World Series." He was booed and heckled throughout the series and managed to get only one hit in three games.

On June 19 against the Atlanta Braves, Soto notched his 1,000th career hit, a single to right field off of Spencer Strider in the 1st inning. With that hit, Soto became the 84th player to reach 1,000 hits by age 26 or younger. Soto is also the 17th player to record 1,000 hits and 200 home runs before his 27th birthday, as well as the only player to reach 1,000 hits, 200 homers, and 800 walks before his 27th birthday.

On June 26, Soto hit two home runs against the Braves in a 7–3 win. It was his 27th career multi-homer game, the most in major league history by a player before turning 27, surpassing Jimmie Foxx. In the same game, Soto joined Darryl Strawberry (May 1987) as the only Mets to produce a calendar month with at least 10 homers and 20 walks. Soto was named the National League Player of the Month for June, after slashing .322/.474/.722 with 11 home runs and 20 RBI. It was the first time he earned Player of the Month in his career.

Playing style

Soto is known for his exceptional plate discipline, ranking 5th all-time in walk rate and 17th all-time in career on-base percentage among hitters with at least 4,000 plate appearances at the conclusion of the 2024 season. During his 2018 rookie season, Soto became known for his movements in the batter's box after he successfully takes a pitch for a ball. Dubbed the "Soto Shuffle," the routine often includes Soto swinging his hips, wiping the dirt with a wide arc of his leg, tapping his leg, hopping, or lowering himself into a squat and staring at the pitcher. As an ESPN writer described it: "He'll swing his hips or spread his legs or sweep his feet or shimmy his shoulders or lick his lips or squeeze his, um, junk, sometimes all at once." Soto says he started the routine in the minor leagues "to get in the minds of the pitchers, because sometimes they get scared". In Game 1 of the 2019 National League Championship Series, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas responded to Soto's antics by grabbing his own crotch after retiring Soto on a ground out. Soto responded later by saying, "He got me out, he can do whatever he wants." In subsequent seasons, Soto eliminated crotch-grabbing from the routine.

Soto employs a "two-strike approach" in which he raises his grip along the bat handle and adopts a wider, lower stance, sometimes described as a crouch, in the batter's box. He is noted for his ability to drive the ball to all fields, even on a two-strike count. At the conclusion of the 2020 season, Soto had hit 69 career home runs in MLB and divided them evenly by direction: 23 to left field, 23 to center field, and 23 to right field.

Although he was a finalist for a Gold Glove Award as a left fielder after the 2019 season, Soto has indicated a preference for playing right field, his main position during his brief minor league career. The Nationals began deploying him as their starting right fielder late in the 2020 season, and he became the Nationals' everyday right fielder in 2021. Soto is below average at both corner outfield positions for his career, according to ultimate zone rating and Statcast metrics.

International career

Soto played for the Dominican Republic national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He led or tied for the team lead in hits, doubles, home runs, walks, and OPS. He also had an outfield assist against Nicaragua. One of his home runs came in a knockout loss to Puerto Rico.

In 2021, Soto donated $200,000 to Dominican athletes in that year's Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Soto's younger brother, Elian, currently plays in the Washington Nationals organization.

On coming to the United States, Soto devoted himself to learning English, and was praised as an exceptionally dedicated and quick learner.

Soto has twice given gifts to new teammates to retain his #22 uniform number. After he was traded to the Padres in 2022, he gave Nick Martinez a "really nice watch." In 2025, after signing with the Mets, he gave Brett Baty a Chevrolet Tahoe that had "thanks for #22" written on the rear windshield.