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DETROIT, MICHIGAN – 1 DE SEPTIEMBRE: Juan Soto # 22 de los Mets de Nueva York reacciona a su jonrón de grand slam en la cuarta entrada contra los Tigres de Detroit en Comerica Park el 1 de septiembre de 2025 en Detroit, Michigan. (Foto de Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Los Mets de Nueva York El toletero de 700 millones de dólares, Juan Soto, está teniendo otra temporada fantástica. Al 30 de mayo, Soto tiene un OPS+ de 176 y un OPS de .977.
No hace mucho, los fanáticos en Queens cuestionaban su trato. Ahora, ex Grandes Ligas La leyenda Joey Votto le envía elogios.
Joey Votto piensa muy bien de Juan Soto
En un segmento reciente con MLB NetworkA Votto se le preguntó qué pensaba sobre Soto.
“¿Qué ves cuando ves a Juan Soto y lo ves bateando estos últimos años?” preguntó el presentador Brian Kenny.
“Bueno, los titulares son Aaron Judge y Shohei Ohtani, como debe ser”, respondió Votto. “Pero personalmente creo que Juan Soto es quizás el bateador más importante de esta generación”.
Continuó: «¿Por qué digo eso? Creo que nos dará 20 años, tal vez incluso 25 años de grandeza. Creo que ha cambiado la cultura del béisbol, y comenzó a hacer esto a los 19 años. Y también creo que se compara favorablemente con uno de los bateadores más desconocidos en la historia del béisbol, Mel Ott. Al igual que Mel Ott, jugó con dos jugadores gigantescos, Jimmy Foxx y Babe Ruth, y era un jugador menos conocido. a pesar de que estuvo entre los mejores bateadores de todos los tiempos”.
Votto ve similitudes entre Ott y Soto
“[Ott} had a fantastic 20-25 years of play and he’s not really remembered all time. But I would argue that Juan Soto may be amongst the best 3-5 left-handed hitters, maybe even higher, left-handed hitters of all time. Why do I say that?”
“Because all of the players that we reference as the greatest left-handed hitters of all time, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, they played pre-integration. I think this is a crucial, crucial fact. Juan Soto is playing against the BEST players, literally of all time, we’re at the peak of baseball, we’re at the peak of drug testing, and as you can see amongst the post-integration players, in his first 4500 plate appearances, he scores the best.”
Votto’s legendary comparison is almost serendipitous for Mets fans. In a lowly season with almost nothing to gloat about, they still have the modern-day Ted Williams.
Votto and Soto Have Similarities As Hitters
Another intriguing part of this comp by Votto is the similarities they share as hitters.
The main one? Ball four.
Soto and the Reds’ legend both drew walks at an absurd rate their entire careers. The occasional home run would be sprinkled in, and the batting average often lands around .250-270. Respectable, but not a contact-oriented approach.
Votto did most of his dirty work at Great American Ballpark with Cincinnati. Likely giving him a boost in his offensive numbers. Soto had one season with a short porch in New York and launched 41 home runs.
You might think that Soto’s power was a mirage, a glimmer in the Bronx. And then, he went cross-town to the Mets and topped it with 43.
Soto is a once-in-a-generation type of talent. Players who dominate hitting in so many different ways rarely come around. There’s almost no concrete plan of attack to induce an out. When it’s all said and done, in the words of Joey Votto, Soto will go down as one of the greatest left-handed hitters of all time.
AJ Stone AJ Stone is a baseball writer for Heavy, covering MLB news and various trends. His work has also appeared on Redbird Rants, Inside Halos, District on Deck, and other digital outlets. With a focus on analytics, he aims to blend data with storytelling for an engaging experience for his readers. More about AJ Stone
