"It's rare for a player to even make his big league debut at 19, let alone to immediately break out as a star. That's precisely what Soto did, however, belting an opposite-field home run off Chad Green in his second big league plate appearance. One home run doesn't make anyone a star, of course, but Soto was completely unfazed by MLB pitching and went on to post a .292/.406/.517 batting line and swat 22 homers all before turning 20."
"Soto's debut harkened back to Hall of Famer Mel Ott's jaw-dropping 19-year-old rookie season with the New York Giants exactly 90 years prior. No one as young as Soto has turned in a season that good. Soto's 142 OPS+ in his rookie season is the best in MLB history (min. 300 plate appearances)."
"Soto's only gotten better since then, recording more walks than strikeouts in five consecutive seasons. He belted a career-high 41 homers this past season while slashing .288/.419/.569. By measure of wRC+, he was 80% better than league average at the plate."
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