Soto gaining steam at plate with P-Nats

Despite an injury-plagued campaign, Juan Soto put up a .351/.415/. slash line in his first taste of full-season ball last year. Now the Nationals No. 2 prospect is showing what he can do when he's healthy, and his new teammates and coaches with Class A Advanced Potomac are taking notice.

Gameday box score
On Saturday, Soto put together his best performance since being promoted to the Carolina League, going 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI in Potomac's 8-3 victory over Lynchburg at Calvin Falwell Field.
For Soto's hitting coach, former Major League infielder Luis Ordaz, Saturday's effort at the plate is a sign of things to come.
"He's only 19. He's a baby. When he gets more experience, he's going to be even more dangerous at the plate," Ordaz said. "He knows what pitch he wants when he's up there. It's hard to explain. We try to teach kids the strike zone, and he already has that. That's a gift he has, and he can be a superstar."
After an inning-ending groundout in the first, the native of the Dominican Republic delivered an RBI double to center field in the fourth off Lynchburg starter Jake Paulson and scored three batters later. He singled to load the bases in the fifth, setting the table for a five-run inning.
In the sixth, he reached on an error by first baseman Emmanuel Tapia, plating Nats No. 3 prospect Carter Kieboom
Saturday's performance comes on the heels of a slow start with his new club after being called up from Class A Hagerstown on April 23. He went 0-for-5 in his Carolina League debut against Wilmington and finished that series 3-for-15.
The day after Soto's hitless opener, Ordaz remembers the Nationals prospect arriving at the park and hitting the cages quickly. The two discussed the performance and what to take from it, and, in that short conversation, the Potomac hitting coach could tell he was dealing with a player mature beyond his years.
"The first night was his first game in this league. The league was different, the stadium was different. I don't think that was a big deal for him," he said. "That day, he told me 'I'm going to do something big,' and since then, he's been taking off."
But in Friday's series opener against Lynchburg, Soto showed off his patience, drawing three walks and picking up his first Carolina League hit. 

In five games, he's only registered one strikeout, displaying a composure that Ordaz feels is Soto's biggest asset. And even his new teammates are starting to take notice.
"The other kids, they look at him and realize he knows what he's doing. His swing, the strike zone. He can get some walks, get the line moving," Ordaz said. "When you have a guy like that that can bring you good at-bats, everyone can follow that. That's a good example, and there are a lot of eyes on him. You can tell."
In Soto, Ordaz says he sees an Andruw Jones-type slugger, someone who can consistently produce 30 homers and 100 RBIs with a .300 batting average.
"I just want him to continue to do what he's doing and try to learn every single day. Every day, you can learn something different," he said. "He pays attention to little details and is asking every day about the small things. That's why he's so good at the next adjustment. I've never seen a kid know what to do so well."
Alongside Soto, teammate Rhett Wiseman smacked a three-run homer, his third, to cap the big fifth inning for Potomac.
P-Nats starter Joan Baez (1-1) picked up the win, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven over five frames.