Juan Soto homered for the first time Tuesday night since being traded to the San Diego Padres facing Alex Cobb and the San Francisco Giants (box score).
Soto’s blast came in the fourth inning with the then-hitless Padres trailing by a 1-0 margin. He worked a full count against Cobb before taking advantage of a 96-mph elevated fastball. Take a look:
According to Statcast, Soto’s home run left the bat traveling at 107.9 mph and carried 395 feet.
Soto entered the night batting 300/.440/.450 with a double and a triple over the course of 25 plate appearances and six games with the Padres. Overall, he’d hit .249/.410/.383 (159 OPS+) in his first 107 games this season. It merits mentioning, given Soto’s youth and his trajectory, Tuesday’s blast represented the 120th of his career.
The Padres acquired Soto at the deadline as part of a massive deal that netted them first baseman Josh Bell as well. In return, the Padres sent veteran first baseman Luke Voit and a handful of young players to the Washington Nationals: shortstop C.J. Abrams, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, and right-hander Jarlin Susano. (Eric Hosmer, originally reported as being part of the trade, exercised his partial no-trade clause to prevent his inclusion; he was subsequently traded to the Boston Red Sox.)
Although the Padres also added closer Josh Hader, they’ve had difficulty gaining traction since the deadline. Indeed, the Padres entered Tuesday having dropped five consecutive games, including all three they played last weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres were outscored by a 20-4 margin in those three contests versus the Dodgers, their top National League West rival.
