The San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals faced off this weekend for the first time since the two teams shook up the league at the trade deadline. Star outfielder Juan Soto was back in D.C. making his first-ever appearance against his former club. After the series ended, with the Padres taking two of three games, Soto opened up on his experience being back at Nationals Park and what it meant to him. Via Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Soto gave his honest take on returning to D.C. as a member of the Padres.

“It feels pretty cool. It's kind of sad in the same way because it's still the Nationals and you were there, and it was a really good team by the time I was there,” said Soto. “But it is what it is. It's a business now, and I'm on a winning team. I'm really happy. I'm happy for myself that I get to play with Manny [Machado] and Croney [Jake Cronenworth] and all those guys that are here.”

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“I'm glad that the fans are still loving me,” Soto continued. “They were cheering for me since the first inning of the first game all the way up to the last inning of the last game.”

There was no animosity towards Soto from Nationals fans when the Padres came to town. While fans of the ball club are still heartbroken over the decision to move on from the 23-year-old sensation, they know the decision was not in Soto's hands. In a classy move, Nationals fans showed support for Soto throughout the entire series, and clearly, it meant a lot to him.

As Soto indicated, he's happy in San Diego, but that won't diminish how important Washington D.C. and the Nationals are to him. The Padres won two of the three games in Washington, and Soto picked up a handful of hits in the series. While he's focusing on winning as a member of the Padres, Juan Soto clearly won't forget his tenure with the Nationals any time soon.