What to make of Soto's shockingly bad spring numbers?

The heart of the Nationals lineup has put up some huge numbers this spring. But here's the strange thing about that: Juan Soto has had nothing to do with it.

While Josh Bell, Ryan Zimmerman and Kyle Schwarber tear up the Grapefruit League with a combined 10 doubles, 14 homers and 31 RBIs, Soto has produced next-to-nothing this month. The best hitter on the team, possibly the best hitter in baseball, is batting .182 (6-for-33) with zero extra-base hits and zero RBIs.

Spring training stats, of course, don't mean much of anything. But in Soto's case, it's not so much the stats as it is the way he looks at the plate. It would be one thing if the 22-year-old star was scorching line drives right at fielders or was stuck with warning-track power, but he's not. The vast majority of the balls he has put into play this spring have been grounders that never left the infield.

So, what's going on here?

"From what I see, it's kind of a timing issue," manager Davey Martinez said Wednesday during a Zoom session with reporters. "I think he's got to get ready a little earlier."

What Martinez is seeing: Soto is late with his swing, perhaps overdoing something that's usually among his best traits as a hitter.

"The biggest thing with him in spring training is he really wants to establish going the other way a lot," the manager said. "Staying on the ball as long as he can, seeing the ball deep. Right now, he's seeing the ball deep. Real deep. It's just a matter of him getting his timing down."

Soto is as good an opposite-field hitter as there is in baseball, and he's one of the few whose natural tendency is to drive the ball the other way. But in staying back on pitches as excessively as he is right now, he's not making solid contact. And the end result isn't real pretty, especially when you look at the calendar and realize opening night is fast approaching.

"He's still got a week," Martinez said. "And when you watch him take BP, he puts on an unbelievable show. Just take it from that into the game and get himself ready for every pitch. That'll come. I think that'll come very soon for him. And we all know that he makes adjustments on the fly, which is very unique for a young hitter like him. But he's able to do it."

Of all the remarkable things Soto has done in three major league seasons, perhaps the most remarkable thing is his ability to have never been mired in a legitimate slump.

Only three times in his career has he gone hitless in three consecutive games. Only once has he gone hitless in more games than that: a six-game stretch in September 2019 that saw him go 0-for-15 but still draw 12 walks.

Who else in the sport can claim to have done something like that?

"It's part of the game (to slump)," Martinez said. "And you don't ever feel like he's really struggling."

Which is why the Nationals aren't particularly worried about Soto at this moment. Sure, they'd like to see him start driving the ball with more regularity. But really, does anyone doubt he'll figure this out, and soon?

"If all of a sudden he was striking out every at-bat, I'd be a little concerned," Martinez said. "But he goes up there and he works on things, and I know he's trying to see the ball really deep right now. The timing thing will come. He's taking pitches like he normally does. I think just to get him to hit the ball a little more out front. It's just a timing thing."