Soto content for now to take walks, keep raising OBP

From the moment he arrived in the big leagues in 2018, Juan Soto's ability to reach base has outshone every other baseball skill of his. And he's got plenty of elite skills.

For all his prowess hitting for power, hitting to the opposite field, just hitting in general, Soto has always made a name for himself first and foremost because of his batting eye. That, more than anything, has led to his .422 career on-base percentage, a mark that during that four-season span has been bested by only one player: Mike Trout (.442).

More remarkable: Soto has maintained that high rate his entire time in the majors. His on-base percentage has topped .400 in each of his four seasons with the Nationals. Even in his worst single month (April 2019), he still reached base at an impressive .368 clip.

And this month, he has taken it to a level that didn't even seem possible. After homering and drawing three walks during Wednesday's 8-5 win over the Blue Jays, Soto raised his August on-base percentage to a staggering .569.

There's still 11 more days to go this month, and there's no guarantee Soto will maintain this pace. But if he does, it would rank among the best months in baseball history for reaching base.

Since World War II, only six big leaguers have taken at least 75 plate appearance in a month and produced an on-base percentage of .569 or higher: Barry Bonds (who did it in an astounding 11 different months from 2001-04), Ted Williams (twice), Wade Boggs, Frank Thomas, Jason Giambi and Todd Helton.

Thing is, it's no coincidence this is happening to Soto this month in particular. The Nationals' dramatic trade deadline sell-off of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison stripped their lineup down to the bone. The only remaining hitters with above-average track records are Soto and Josh Bell.

So nobody is surprised opposing pitchers aren't giving Soto much of anything to hit right now. His three walks Wednesday raised his August total to 20 in only 58 plate appearances.

"We've talked a lot about the kind of hitter he is, and what makes him really successful is not to chase and taking his walks," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters Wednesday. "Unfortunately, it's happened a lot. But he is accepting it. He is taking it. The key for him now, as I always tell him, is: 'Be ready to hit every pitch, and when you do get a ball you think you can hit, be ready for it.' They've been so few and far between, and he has been pitched a lot on the corners. He's just got to be ready for that one opportunity where he gets a ball to hit."

Soto was ready for the 2-0 fastball in the strike zone he got from Blue Jays starter José Berríos in the bottom of the first. And he drove it on a line to left-center for a three-run homer, his 20th of the season.

But he saw only five more pitches over the plate during his remaining four plate appearances, compared to 16 on the edges or out of the strike zone altogether. So he did what he's been doing for four seasons now: He didn't get frustrated, he didn't expand his zone, he didn't chase and he took his walks, trusting the guys behind him to get the job done.

Bell didn't come through following the first two walks, but he certainly did after the third one, blasting a three-run homer to right-center that gave the Nationals the lead for good.

"If they want to walk Soto, I'll take my chances with Josh Bell," Martinez said. "He's done awesome protecting Juan."

For three months now, that has indeed been true. After a horrific start to his season that included an abysmal offensive slash line of .133/.198/.289, Bell has become an opportunistic cleanup hitter behind Soto. Over his last 81 games, he's batting .274/.336/.511 with 17 homers and 55 RBIs. That's a 34-homer, 110-RBI pace over a full season, if he sustained it.

But Bell doesn't deliver every time he comes up to bat following a Soto walk. And he's certainly not the hitter Soto is.

Which makes you wonder: Would Soto and the Nats be better served if he swung at just a few more pitches on the corner, or even just off the corner, especially when he's recently been called out looking at several borderline third strikes?

"We talk a lot about that," Martinez said. "He has such a good eye. But sometimes with two strikes ... when I played, I didn't leave it up to the umpire. I was either going to try to foul that ball off or try to put it in play. He's got to be aware with two strikes. Sometimes he might have to expand the strike zone a little bit. Try to either spoil that pitch and get to the next one or he's so good that he can barrel up balls that are two or three inches outside or inside."

It's a fine line, of course. Nobody wants Soto to start getting out of his comfort zone and forcing the issue when it's not his natural tendency to do that. But if he does stay true to the approach that has brought him this far, he's going to keep drawing walks at a clip only a few before him ever reached.

"The fact that he does know the strike zone so well, it's really good for him," Martinez said.