Juan Soto is no stranger to making noise at the plate, but it appeared to be even louder on Monday when he went yard.
In the top of the sixth inning during the World Baseball Classic when Nicaragua hosted The Dominican Republic, the outfielder took a Junior Tellez slider over the fence for a 401-foot, upper-decker home run to extend the lead to 4-0.
A massive blast from Juan Soto! ⚾️💣 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/R98K8M7K9q
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 13, 2023
The crowd went absolutely crazy, as did social media.
the "holy shit that ball just went 500 feet" lean 😂 pic.twitter.com/tiJrzbljgX
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) March 13, 2023
As you can see, Tellez couldn’t help but smile.
Upper decker from @JuanSoto25_!!! 🇩🇴 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/afN0rNtK8L
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/drpaulnorthcott/status/1635345432607068161
Juan Soto conectó el primer cuadrangular del equipo Dominicano en este Clásico Mundial. Fue recibido por Nelson Cruz quien le colocó la "Banda Presidencial". @FedobeRD pic.twitter.com/KlBMap345t
— Melvin Mingó (@melvinmingord) March 13, 2023
And he was doing it without playing at full strength. Juan Soto left Padres camp to arrive with the DR team with restrictions. He had been dealing with calf tightness during spring training before being cleared to play.
Soto came over to the Padres during a very robust trade deadline in 2022 from the Washington Nationals in hopes of being one of the main additions to lift San Diego to the finish line. While the team came up short, he earned an All-Star selection, despite some dips in his usual elite set of numbers.
Across his five-year career, however (yes, he’s still only 34), he’s batting .287/.424/.526 with a .950 OPS.
He also hopes to get an extension — even after the Padres just handed out a very lucrative deal to teammate, third baseball Manny Machado. The Padres will continue to spend money.
Speaking of Machado, Soto’s home run in the WBC game was followed by a Machado home run, which indeed made San Diego Padres fans happy.
all @Padres fans watching Soto and Machado for the Dominican Republic rn pic.twitter.com/hlUtdBOYTC
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 13, 2023
