Washington Nationals must give Juan Soto consistent playing time
Washington Nationals top prospect Juan Soto made his major league debut in a pinch-hitting appearance on Sunday. Moving forward, he must receive regular playing time.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Washington Nationals are in a unique situation. 19-year-old Juan Soto has joined the major league team, but the Nats are in contention.
It is not often that a teenager finds himself on a major league roster, but, when it does happen, it is typically with a rebuilding team. If a team is not making much of an effort to compete and have a top prospect playing well in the minors, they sometimes give him a shot in the bigs before he is ready.
However, due to a plethora of outfield injuries, Soto is now on the Nats’ active roster, despite spending just one week above Single-A.
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The Nats’ entire organization has been riddled with injuries all year, depleting their depth. Meanwhile, Soto has been producing at an otherworldly pace, forcing the Nats’ hand.
Although the Nats were not planning to have Soto debut this early, it became necessary. Now, they must let him play.
As we have seen with Victor Robles, the Nats are hesitant to call up top prospects if there is not an opportunity for them to receive regular playing time. Robles appeared to be ready to make an impact in the majors throughout spring training, but the Nats elected to have him start the year in Triple-A due to their stacked major league outfield.
Unfortunately, Robles has since suffered an injury of his own; otherwise he would likely be in the majors right now.
With Soto in the majors, the Nats have four natural outfielders (Soto, Bryce Harper, Michael Taylor, and Andrew Stevenson) and a couple infielders capable of playing left field (Matt Adams and Mark Reynolds) on their active roster.
Despite being just 19 years old, Soto should be the everyday left fielder for the time being. After all, he is only 19 and is still developing. If he spends the bulk of his time in the majors on the bench, the Nats are wasting crucial developmental opportunities.
It is especially important that Soto develops as much as possible this year, considering Harper may be playing elsewhere this time next year. The Nats’ 2019 Opening Day outfield could presumably consist of Soto, Robles, and Adam Eaton.
Soto has also hit left-handed pitchers just as well as he has hit right-handed pitchers. His OPS against lefties was actually 125 points higher than his OPS against righties this year.
Dave Martinez said he is going to limit Soto’s at-bats against tough lefties, which may help ease him into the majors, but it is not necessary based on his splits.
Nobody knows how long Juan Soto will remain in the majors, as it likely depends on his performance and the Nats’ injury situation, but he must receive regular playing time. In playing him consistently, the Washington Nationals will get a glimpse into their future and allow their budding star to continue to develop.