Washington Nationals: Juan Soto joins group aiming to hit .400

The Washington Nationals phenom Juan Soto went 4-for-5 on Monday night, climbing his 2020 batting average to .400. 

Following a 4-for-5 performance in the Washington Nationals 11-8 loss to the Miami Marlins on Monday night, Juan Soto joined the limited group of players aiming for .400. And in the shortened season, the members of this group have a realistic shot at achieving this baseball anomaly.

It should be noted that Soto currently falls four plate appearances short of qualifying for certain league-leader statistics for MLB record keeping. According to Baseball-Reference, a player must average “3.1 plate appearances per team game for hitters” to qualify for this “rate-statistic.”

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Entering Tuesday, the Nationals have played 26 games this year. This calculates to Soto needing 80.6 plate appearances through this mark. Currently, Soto owns 76 plate appearances this year.

As an everyday player in Washington’s lineup, it’s expected that Soto will catch up to this qualifying mark. He missed the first week of games in 2020 following a positive COVID-19 test.

Since the return, Soto has resumed his campaign as one of the best hitters in the big leagues. Last year, at 20-years-old, Soto was vital in Washington’s championship run and has been compared to the likes of Ted Williams for his abilities at the plate.

In his current campaign, at just 21-years-old, Soto has posted a .400/.487/.815 batting line with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. This is rare company for players of his age. As MLB.com writer Jason Catania pointed out on Twitter, the “highest batting average by a player in his age-21 season or younger in the Modern Era” was Alex Rodriguez’s .358 back in 1996.

Baseball fans will eagerly tune in to witness the serious possibility of someone hitting .400 this year. Currently, the Colorado Rockies‘ Charlie Blackmon and New York Yankees‘ DJ LeMahieu welcomed Soto to this club. Blackmon is hitting .405 through 28 games and 120 plate appearances, while LeMahieu owns a .411 mark through 19 games and 79 plate appearances.

LeMahieu is stuck on the 10-day IL list with a thumb injury and will need to return quickly to obtain his qualifying mark of plate appearances.