Soto appreciates significance of 100th career homer

ATLANTA – On an otherwise dreadful Tuesday night for the Nationals, Juan Soto reminded everyone why every at-bat he takes, no matter the score at the time, remains must-see TV.

In the top of the sixth, with his team well on its way to a 16-4 drubbing at the hands of the Braves, Soto stepped to the plate against rookie right-hander Bryce Elder and proceeded to launch a baseball 451 feet to right-center field, nearly reaching the top of the stands at Truist Park.

The home run not only was majestic. It was historic, the 100th homer of Soto’s young career.

“It’s just a number that not many players get to there, and it feels an honor to be there,” he said. “It feels good. We lost the game, it’s tough, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to look at the positive things.”

This was most certainly one of the only positive things from Tuesday night’s loss. But it was another reminder that no matter how difficult this season may get, we’re always going to be treated to four or five Soto at-bats each game.

Soto reached the triple digit mark at 23 years, 169 days. That makes him the fourth-youngest player to hit his 100th homer since 1969, with only Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones and Miguel Cabrera doing it at a younger age. (And keep in mind none of those guys was forced to play a 60-game season along the way.)

“For me, it’s just a blessing,” Soto said. “It just comes to me. I never tried to hit a homer, or anything like that. I’m one of the guys who just tries to hit singles every day. So for me to become consistent hitting homers, it’s just impressive and it tells how good I’ve been working on my body and everything.”

Soto was able to retrieve the ball after the game, because the young Nationals fan who wound up with it offered to exchange it for a signed bat. Soto came out of the clubhouse to meet the fan, who just so happened to be wearing a No. 22 jersey, hand him the autographed bat and pose for photos.

“For me, it’s my first time (giving a gift to a fan in exchange for a home run ball) so it feels pretty cool,” he said. “I saw them, they were really happy. I’m happy he was wearing one of my jerseys and everything. It was pretty cool for me, and I hope I can do it many, many more.”