San Diego Padres starting to see the Juan Soto they wanted

After pulling off arguably the biggest trade deadline deal of them all, the San Diego Padres have been waiting for Juan Soto to adjust to life in brown and gold. Just as the postseason draws near, it appears that Soto is becoming exactly the player the Padres hoped would help them do damage in October.

San Diego Padres starting to see bigger benefits from Juan Soto trade

Prior to Saturday night’s road game against the Colorado Rockies, Soto has slashed just .234/.393/.393 in 184 plate appearances over 42 games for the San Diego Padres. His .787 OPS was down from the numbers he had put together in Washington (a career-low of .894 in 101 games this season prior to the trade deadline deal that brought him to San Diego).

However, including his 1-for-4 performance on Saturday night, Soto is slashing .360/.484/.720 over his past seven games (25 at-bats) as the Padres sit in the second Wild Card spot, just a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies entering Sunday.

With San Diego holding an 83.4 chance to make the postseason per FanGraphs, the Padres need Soto to not only stay hot, but continue to be the presence at the plate they need him to be if they’re going to advance past the Wild Card round.

“You expect him to swing the bat the way he has right now and for a period of time now,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said before Saturday’s game. “That’s just kind of who he is.”

The 23-year-old Soto was expected to be a difference-maker for the Padres, and he has shown that in recent games. In Friday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss to Colorado, Soto went 2-for-5, including a eighth-inning solo home run that knotted the game and eventually forced extra innings.

While the Padres eventually lost the game, they wouldn’t have reached the 10th inning without Soto’s blast. It’s the kind of game-changing swing the Padres hope to see Soto continue to demonstrate as they finish the regular season with nine consecutive home games as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and San Francisco Giants all come to Petco Park.

Soto doesn’t become a free agent until the 2025 campaign, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to life in a San Diego Padres uniform. However, the focus is now for a team that not only needs Soto’s bat to hold on to a Wild Card spot, but be more than a one-and-done team in the 2022 postseason.