San Diego Padres fans will not be happy with what happened with marquee trade deadline acquisition, outfielder Juan Soto, in the third inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In the second pitch of his at-bat against Diamondbacks left-handed pitcher Tommy Henry in the bottom of the third inning, Soto was hit with a 91 MPH fastball squarely on his right shoulder. Naturally, this drew a lot of boos from the Padres home crowd. Soto immediately went down on the ground and grimaced in pain, which will be of immense concern for manager Bob Melvin who immediately came out of the dugout to check on his prized hitter.
Juan Soto exited the game on the 5th after being hit by a 91 MPH fast ball on the shoulder in the 3rd 😬pic.twitter.com/oHofN013zu
— ClutchPoints MLB (@ClutchpointsMLB) September 8, 2022
Soto appeared to be okay afterwards, stretching out his shoulder as he walked towards first base. However, it was later clear that his shoulder was still bothering him, and he was taken off in the fifth inning for centerfielder Trent Grisham, who proceeded to get on base with a single to right field.
While Juan Soto hasn't set the world on fire after his move to the Padres, his ability to get on base remains an integral part of the Padres offense, which needed reinforcement especially after the controversial suspension of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Soto has hit for a .235 average and he's only had three home runs for the Padres, but his 20.8% walk rate, against only a 12.0% strikeout rate with San Diego has led to an elite .395 on-base percentage.
Padres fans will be holding their collective breaths in hopes that Juan Soto's shoulder wouldn't be giving him much trouble amidst the playoff hunt. The 75-62 Padres are in the driver's seat of the wildcard race, holding a 3.5 game lead over the 71-65 Milwaukee Brewers, and it will fall on the shoulders of Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, and Yu Darvish to protect that slim advantage if Soto is forced to miss more time.
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