Sometimes a foul ball is good for the hitter. Sometimes, a foul ball is good for the pitcher. Other times, a foul ball is not especially good for either the hitter or pitcher, but significantly worse for the hitter.
San Diego Padres star Juan Soto, unfortunately, found himself in the latter category during Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Soto fouled a 1-0 pitch from Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez off in the seventh inning. He then took a few steps out of the batter’s box before falling to the ground. Most people watching the game likely noticed what happened immediately. The collective groan upon seeing the replay on Petco Park’s big screen likely clued nearly everyone else in. And in case anyone was still not up to speed, the slow-motion replay left no doubt as to what happened.
After Soto pounded the ball into the ground, it bounced right back up, nailing him in the groin.
"Juan Soto grounds one off of Juan Soto, and he goes down hard… That is not where you want it… One replay, please. One and done…. That'll hurt your feelings."- Kevin Brown pic.twitter.com/OKh3jReQnJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 15, 2023
Baseball fans felt everywhere felt Soto’s pain. Some couldn’t help but feel that it was strangely (and painfully) on brand with the season the Padres are experiencing.
Dang even I felt that. https://t.co/p3LZDkQeU9
— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) August 15, 2023
You can hear when the crowd sees the replay https://t.co/80BRdIr9rG
— Brian Kelly (@Brpkelly) August 15, 2023
got up much quicker than I would have https://t.co/5lt1MinHPi
— CHUCK(Y ) (@cdulaney85) August 15, 2023
Sums up the Padres’ season https://t.co/l3Lv4CCB9z
— Trolley Blue (@TrolleyBlue) August 15, 2023
Padres season in a …. nutshell.
I’ll show myself out. https://t.co/Hi8oDsaT7I
— Greg Moran (@gregmoran) August 15, 2023
Soto got up and stayed in the game. He finished his at-bat with the most understandable groundout in the history of Major League Baseball.
