Padres News: Juan Soto Talks Big Changes From Old Approach to Hitting

Soto's having a strong season despite slow start.

Even though he has been one of the best hitters in baseball for the past couple of seasons, Juan Soto is always working on his swing. 

After struggling to start the season, Soto worked hard to rework his swing and his approach at the plate. 

Thanks to these changes, Soto is back to his old ways of being an elite hitter. 

“We’re just working with my hitting coaches back home. I was trying to figure out what is going on with this and that and he just told me I was rolling over the ball too much instead of using the whole field. Forget about right field, try to hit the ball away because I’m going to be fine whenever they throw me in. I want them to throw me in. So that’s what we did and it helped me get all the way here.”

Entering the month of May, Soto was on pace for one of the worst seasons of his career. Through 29 games, the Padres right fielder had a .202 batting average and had more strikeouts than walks. 

Since making adjustments at the plate in May, no one has been more consistent than Soto. Despite the rough start to the season, Soto finished the first half with a .898 OPS and led the league in walks. 

Thanks to his strong May and June, Soto made his third consecutive All-Star Game. 

As the Padres look to get themselves back into playoff contention, Soto is going to have to play his best to carry the team.