Brilliant as a rookie, what can Soto do for an encore next year?

As our offseason coverage kicks into high gear, we're going to review each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Juan Soto, who made his major league debut far sooner than anyone expected and then performed well beyond anyone's expectations.

PLAYER REVIEW: JUAN SOTO

Age on opening day 2019: 20

How acquired: Signed as an international free agent, June 2015

MLB service time: 143 days

2018 salary: $545,000

Contract status: Under club control, likely arbitration-eligible in 2021, free agent in 2025

2018 stats: 116 G, 494 PA, 414 AB, 77 R, 121 H, 25 2B, 1 3B, 22 HR, 70 RBI, 5 SB, 2 CS, 79 BB, 99 SO, .292 AVG, .406 OBP, .517 SLG, .923 OPS, -5 DRS, 3.7 fWAR, 3.0 bWAR

Quotable: "His swing is so fundamentally sound that he can do damage from foul pole to foul pole, which is unique for anybody, much less a 19-year-old. It seems like he rarely goes out of the zone. Takes his walks. And really doesn't strike out a lot. It's really special to watch." - Daniel Murphy

2018 analysis: Soto didn't come out of nowhere. The Nationals had been touting the talented young outfielder ever since he was discovered out of the Dominican Republic and given a hefty $1.5 million signing bonus. And he thrived at each level of the lower minor leagues, hitting .368 in rookie ball in 2016 and .351 in low-Single-A Hagerstown in 2017. But nobody - and we mean nobody - ever envisioned Soto making his major league debut on May 20, 2018 and then proceeding to take the entire sport by storm the way he did.

Soto almost certainly wouldn't have reached Washington so soon if not for an onslaught of injuries to other Nationals outfielders. At the time of his promotion, Adam Eaton, Howie Kendrick, Victor Robles, Brian Goodwin and Rafael Bautista all were on the disabled list. And so, even though he had opened the season in Hagerstown, played only 15 games at high-Single-A Potomac and only eight games at Double-A Harrisburg, Soto got the call and rewarded the organization for its faith in him.

There are so many different ways to highlight Soto's performance, but here's one you might not have realized: He hit at least .299 or posted an on-base percentage of at least .383 in every one of the five months he spent with the Nationals as a 19-year-old rookie. Here's another sign of his remarkable consistency: He failed to reach base in back-to-back games only three times, and never went three games in a row without successfully recording either a hit or drawing a walk.

And then, finally, there's this: Soto wound up falling eight plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaderboard. Drop the minimum down by those measly eight plate appearances, and Soto ranked second in the National League in on-base percentage (behind only Joey Votto) and third in OPS (behind only Christian Yelich and Nolan Arenado). Did we mention he did this at age 19, having played only eight minor league games higher than Single-A?

2019 outlook: Soto won't be sneaking up on anyone next season. He'll enter 2019 with huge expectations, and every opponent will have a pitching plan of attack for him. So the question is how well he handles both the adjustments on field and the attention off it.

On the field, there doesn't seem to be much reason to be concerned. Soto already proved this summer that he can make adjustments, and his hitting approach is as advanced as anyone in the sport, no matter the experience level. He also made some significant strides in left field along the way, and now that he'll have a full winter and spring training to work exclusively at that position, he should continue to get better.

Off the field, Soto is going to have to learn how much attention he can handle and at what point it affects his on-field performance. He seemed perfectly comfortable with the spotlight this year, though, and though he oozes confidence it should not be confused for cockiness or a belief that he doesn't need to work hard to be successful.

If - and this is still a big if - Bryce Harper signs elsewhere, Soto is going to become the focal point of the Nationals lineup, probably batting third behind Trea Turner and ahead of Anthony Rendon. That's an awful lot to throw at a 20-year-old. But as we saw this season, you can throw just about anything imaginable at this kid and he handles it with stunning aplomb.