With Robles arriving, Soto's next step might be a day off

September has arrived and 19-year-old Juan Soto keeps rolling...and playing.

Soto is now up to 93 games played since May 15. Of course, he is the only 19-year-old in the majors this season, and his 325 at-bats are tops. But if you stretch it out to 21-years-old or younger, the list becomes five players, including: Ronald Acuña, Jr., Gleyber Torres, Ozzie Albies and Rafael Devers.

Soto leads all four of these players with a batting average of .302 and an on-base .419. Soto's .517 slugging percentage is second only to Acuna's .568.

But his walks are the most of all five players. He has tied Mel Ott for all-time walks in a season by a teenager with 66, dating back to 1920. He has also struck out only 80 times, which is the lowest of the five players 21 or younger this season. All of these batters have had more at-bats than Soto because they started before May 15.

Now with the expected arrival of outfielder Victor Robles this week, Soto will likely get a day off or two.

Manager Davey Martinez promised that September would be the time of year that Soto would get that rest. But he said the 19-year-old has never come to him asking for time off.

"Well, he's definitely showed that he can handle playing," Martinez said Saturday. "I just keep watching him. (Friday) he lays down a bunt and beats it out and then he comes up and hits a rocket to right field. He shows no signs of him wearing down.

"Right now, he's playing well. We'll keep an eye on him. We know he's played a lot more than anticipated but he's doing well."

Soto ended up playing all weekend, including night into day Saturday-Sunday, and back-to-back afternoon games Sunday and Monday. He has had multiple hits in seven of his last 12 games.

Now with the season winding down and the Nationals hopes of post season becoming remote, Soto's next transition is to winter baseball in his native Dominican Republic. Martinez and the Nats staff are well aware their young slugger will want to play.

"The big thing is what is he going to do in the winter time," Martinez said. "Will he play winter ball or not? These are things that we got to be careful about.

"I will definitely talk to him about that. But if a kid wants to play, you are not going to discourage him from playing especially for his home town. But we will definitely keep an eye on that."

To give you an idea that Dominican Winter League knew how good Soto was going to be even before he made his big splash this season, Soto was the No. 5 overall selection last year in their September 14 rookie draft by Tigres del Licey. The team rosters for this season will be formulated in the next few weeks.

#Nats prospect OF Juan Soto selected first by Licey of Dominican Winter League, 5th overall in today's draft https://t.co/m6jT9tqUpR

-- Byron Kerr (@masnKerr) September 15, 2017