The Washington Nationals had indulged in the glory that Juan Soto flattered the District of Columbia with back before the 2020's came around. Soto was a key member of the Nationals' 2019 World Series-winning team. Years later, he has moved around MLB from the Padres to the Yankees and now the Mets. Eight years after his MLB debut in 2018, the Soto name finds a new prospect with high expectations.
Elian Soto is the younger brother of Juan, nearly 8 years younger. The Nationals wasted little time in getting the younger Soto brother to try to fill his brother's shoes. The Nationals signed Elian Soto on January 15, 2023, stealing him away from the New York Mets, who originally had been slated to sign Elian with a $50,000 signing bonus.
Being the younger brother of an MLB phenom comes with great benefits. One key benefit is the use of the dominant agent figure, Scott Boras. Instead of becoming a Met, Soto became a National in 2023 and did so with a much larger $225,000 signing bonus.
Soto has endured a longer-than-expected rise, but his rise is coming. The Nationals promoted Elian to Single-A Fredericksburg on Thursday, May 21. The assignment marks his third level in the organization after beginning with the DSL Nationals (Dominican Summer League) and then moving to the FCL Nationals (Florida Complex League).
In his Thursday debut for Single-A Fredericksburg, the Nationals were in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to face the Astros affiliate by the mascot name of the 'Woodpeckers.' Soto's debut earned him 5 at-bats, during which he had 2 hits, 3 total bases, but 3 strikeouts on all 3 of his outs.
Elian Soto doubles to left-center in his first Low A at-bat for Fredericksburg 🔥#Natitude pic.twitter.com/rXVNWs0FTI
— Milb Central (@milb_central) May 22, 2026
Soto's season-to-date in the Florida Complex League has truthfully been one of questions. He has not lived up to the hype of his older brother; in fact, not even close. Soto's batting average in 2026 had been .143 with the FCL Nationals. His OPS shows improvement at .667, good for a .143 batting average. However, the sample size is quite small, with only 27 at-bats.
Before 2026, Soto's resume is equally as poor. In 2023-25 across the DSL and FCL, Soto has never achieved a batting average better than .182, which was the best mark in his 2023 debut season at 17 years old. His total MiLB career spans a .161 batting average, .315 on-base percentage, and .249 slugging percentage.
Being such a young, raw talent, Soto has no true scouting report. He is 6'1" at a listed 182 lbs. He does bat lefty, but that does very little for us. He has failed, to put it bluntly. For fans to hype up Soto's potential would be a rash place to put your mental energy.
While Soto is still south of 21 years of age, upside is technically still there. However, he can be chalked up to nothing more than Juan Soto's younger brother, with 'upside' being more that of 'hope.' We shall see how Soto fares playing true traveling baseball in Single-A going forward — maybe a change of scenery helps the kid, and perhaps he can establish himself as a firm part of the Nationals' future.
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