Nationals lose their best hitter before season even begins as Juan Soto tests positive for COVID-19
Hours before their season opener, the Nationals lost their best position player. Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss time for the Nats, who begin their season tonight against the Yankees.
Soto is asymptomatic but will likely still miss multiple weeks even if he remains so. He will need to quarantine and test negative before rejoining his teammates, and it doesn’t seem likely a player could just jump right back into the lineup, even with the intensity of a shortened season.
Soto also missed two weeks during summer camp after coming in contact with someone who had tested positive.
This will have a drastic affect on the Nationals’ hopes of contending. Soto is their best hitter, and they no longer have Anthony Rendon, who’s now protecting Mike Trout in the Angels’ lineup.
Soto hit .282/.401/.548 in 150 games last season with 34 homers and 110 RBI. He’s an incredibly tough out because he knows the strike zone so well and does a good job of laying off borderline pitches. He’s not even 22 years old yet and he’s already probably one of the five best hitters in the National League.
Soto has been a Phillie-killer in his first two seasons, hitting .302 against them with a 1.011 OPS, 9 HR and 28 RBI in 31 games.
Without him, the Nats’ lineup lacks a true middle-of-the-order threat. The middle of that lineup could end up being Howie Kendrick, Starlin Castro and Eric Thames. A far cry from Soto and Rendon.
The Phillies do not face the Nationals for another five weeks, so Soto could be back for those games. The Phils are in Washington Aug. 25-27, home for a four-game series against the Nats Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, and then go back to D.C. for three games from Sept. 21-23.
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