Padres News: Bob Melvin Confirms the Juan Soto Defensive Game Plan
Last week at FanFest, Padres manager Bob Melvin was noncommittal about where Juan Soto would play in the outfield. He talked about the likelihood that Fernando Tatis Jr. would be an outfielder, but when asked for specifics, he said he'd need to talk to everyone, including Tatis and Soto, before nailing anything down.
It appears he's had those conversations, because he told the media on Tuesday that Soto will be the regular left-fielder for San Diego this year.
"I think left is what we're gonna work on with him and try to keep him in one spot, so that was the conversation I had with him. ... He'll play anywhere, he just wants to be able to— his preparation's pretty epic, whether it's what he does on the offensive end, but defense, too. So he'd like to be able to prepare in the same position. He would be open for anything, but I think it makes sense to try to keep him in one spot."
Soto played left field almost exclusively his first three seasons in the big leagues, but he's been purely a right-fielder the last two seasons. The Padres like Tatis in right field, though, so it makes sense to switch Soto back to left.
Soto came over the San Diego at the trade deadline last year. He'll make $23 million this year and then has one more year of arbitration eligibility before he hits free agency. He's looking to bounce back after a down year offensively in 2022 — his .853 OPS was the worst of his career, and his .242 batting average was 59 points lower than his career mark coming into the season.
Still, even with the down year, Soto posted a 149 OPS+ and had the third-best on-base percentage in the National League at .401, in large part because he led the majors with 135 walks.
The defensive alignment between Soto and Tatis was one of San Diego's biggest questions coming into spring training, and that question has now been answered.