Padres News: Juan Soto Looks to Ride Hot Streak Through May
The San Diego Padres have continued to find any form of consistency in their 2023 season as they now have to figure out how to kick off their new series against the New York Yankees without two of their key guys in Manny Machado and Ha-Seong Kim.
Their Thursday win over the Washington Nationals provided some hope as Rougned Odor stepped up when they needed him most and connected on a three-run home run and gave San Diego fans flashbacks to the 2022 season when they won a number on walk-off games.
But the Friars still sit at 23-27 on the year, runners are being left on base, and even Xander Bogaerts is fizzling out after a nice start. The same problems that we thought would go away after the first few weeks are still there. However, there is one name that has been making positive strides the past month and could save the Padres.
Juan Soto started off the year playing some of the worst baseball of his career since he first entered the MLB. He was struggling heavily to find any type of success at the plate and he was the biggest story of their early losses.
However, the tides have certainly changed in the month of May and he is now batting .342 with 21 hits and 11 RBI's through 21 matches. His most recent performances have came against his former team, Washington Nationals , and he has not disappointed.
The Padres will definitely continue to lean on Soto while Machado and Kim are out and he needs to continue this play if San Diego wants to stack up more wins.
"Soto tied a career high with four walks before hitting his ninth-inning single yesterday. He finished 4-for-7 with a home run and seven walks in the three-game series. In his two trips to Nationals Park since being traded to the Padres, Soto is 8-for-19 with a homer, a double and 11 walks."
(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)
This new series against the New York Yankees will be very interesting.
