page_title: Juan Soto
section_title: 2019 season
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Soto / Career / Washington Nationals / 2019 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Juan Soto at the Nationals Championship Parade On 11/2/19 following the Nationals World Series Victory over the Houston Astros
context_page_description: Juan José Soto Pacheco, nicknamed ”Childish Bambino“, is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. Soto signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2018.
context_section_description: On August 19, 2019, Soto became only the fourth player in MLB history to record 100 extra-base hits before his 21st birthday, joining Mel Ott, Tony Conigliaro, and his former teammate, Bryce Harper. He later became the seventh MLB player in history to reach 30 home runs before their 21st birthday. In 2019, he batted .282/.401/.548 with 110 runs (7th), 108 walks (3rd), 34 home runs, and 110 RBIs (9th) as he stole 12 bases in 13 attempts and was the 4th-youngest player in the NL.
  With the Nationals trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3–1 in the bottom of the eighth during the NL Wild Card Game, Soto hit a bases-clearing single off of Brewers closer Josh Hader to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead. They would later hang on to the lead and advance to the National League Division Series.
  On October 9, 2019, in the decisive Game 5 of the NLDS, Soto hit a game-tying home run in the top of the 8th off Clayton Kershaw. The Nationals eventually won the game (7–3) and series against the Dodgers. On October 23, 2019, playing in Game 1 of his first World Series, Soto hit a home run off of Astros' ace Gerrit Cole to start the fourth inning and became the fourth youngest player in MLB history to ever hit a home run in a World Series. On October 25, 2019, Soto played in a World Series on his birthday, an event his father predicted about 10 years earlier. It was Soto's 21st birthday and Game 3 of the World Series. 
  The Nationals eventually won the World Series, their first in franchise history, and Soto batted .277/.373/.554 with 5 home runs and 14 RBIs in the postseason (.333/.438/.741 with 3 HR, 7 RBIs in the World Series). For the series, he led the Nationals in home runs, hits, walks and runs scored. Soto was later named the co-winner (with Stephen Strasburg) of the 2019 Babe Ruth Award. He also made the All-MLB Second Team for the season in an annual honor rolled out in 2019.
caption: Soto at the Nationals Victory Parade in 2019
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "98", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "453", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "680", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}