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The San Diego Padres have been one of baseball's biggest disappointments in 2023. Despite having a star-studded roster that includes the likes of Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Xander Bogaerts, not to mention the presence of Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to front their rotation, the Padres will be missing out on the 2023 postseason. Nevertheless, it hasn't been for a lack of trying from Soto, as the 24-year old left fielder is still doing whatever he could at the plate to prop up the moribund Padres.
On Wednesday night, Soto hit his 30th home run of the season, a missile to right field off of Los Angeles Dodgers starter Ryan Pepiot to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. And in doing so, Soto joined an exclusive three-man club in Padres franchise history that puts in perspective how positive of an asset he's been for the ballclub despite their lackluster season.
According to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, Juan Soto became just the third player in Padres history to notch a season with 30 home runs and 100 walks, joining Adrian Gonzalez and Fred McGriff, who accomplished the feat in 2009 and 1991, respectively.
Gonzalez and McGriff play a much easier defensive position on the diamond as well, as both are hard-hitting first baseman who gave pitchers hell with their penchant for producing quality at-bats. This sets Juan Soto apart, as he's playing the outfield for the Padres, although it may not be a stretch to say that the team may need to move him to another position soon based off his subpar defensive metrics.
As the article headline suggests, it's also a huge feat for Soto to etch his name into being a part of franchise lore that Padres legend Tony Gwynn never sniffed. However, Gwynn, of course, had a different skillset. He hit for a high average, as his bat-to-ball skills were almost second-to-none, and he wasn't exactly much of a power hitter. He topped out at 17 home runs (1997) and 108 walks (82 unintentional) in a season (1987).
With one year of team control left, Juan Soto has the opportunity to be the first player in Padres history to notch multiple seasons of 30+ HR and 100+ walks (not counting intentional ones).
