Washington Nationals: Just another intriguing Juan Soto statistic

There weren’t too many bright spots in the 2020 season for the Washington Nationals. Digging deeper into the numbers of Juan Soto, reveals another one though.

They call him the Childish Bambino. They’ve tabbed him one of the best up and coming young players in the league. Juan Soto won a World Series ring five days after his 21st birthday. The more we look into his most recent campaign, the more we see how vital he is to the future of the Washington Nationals.

Soto will garner Most Valuable Player consideration this year, albeit of the limited variety. He sat out 13 games, most coming at the beginning of the year in what he is calling a false-positive, COVID test. This, paired with his team finishing tied for the third worst record in the National League will cost him even more recognition.

Soto did lead the league with a .351 batting average and the majors with an OPS of 1.185. He was intentionally walked a league best twelve times as well.

Missing the time is going to take votes away, so will playing alongside Trea Turner, who lead the team in several offensive categories in his own right.

The categories Soto didn’t lead the team in, he was a close second to Turner, accomplishing this in 63 fewer plate appearances.

Some added value to the numbers Soto put up, in an area of weakness for the Nationals was how he hit with runners in scoring position.

As a team, the Nationals stranded nearly four runners in scoring position each game. Only three teams stranded more. The Atlanta Braves were one of those teams, but they hit 37 more home runs than the Nats, allowing them the leeway to strand a few more runners.

Juan Soto was not the one stranding these runners, however. Soto hit .421 with RISP, with half his hits resulting in an extra base hit. Not only did he bring the runner home, he replaced him in scoring position himself. Or even better, scored on a home run.

Hoping the year Turner put together is the new norm, and trusting the team can find a leadoff hitter who can get on base at a better clip than Adam Eaton, these Soto numbers with RISP will can in handy in the 2021 season.

There is no reason to believe Soto will not put up the same numbers next year. If the lineup can protect him, and the pitchers will pitch to him, the potential is there for Soto to own this NL MVP Award in the near future.