10 things you didn’t know about Juan Soto

Juan Soto’s popularity with sports fans has grown by leaps and bounds since he signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets. He’s one of the best players in MLB, but there’s a lot that you might not know about the generational slugger. We have 10 fast facts queued up about Soto for your reading pleasure.

MLB’s schedule is unforgiving, with a 162 game regular season, spring training and the postseason all crammed in. With that said, Soto still finds time to play video games during his busy schedule. He told the New York Daily News in March 2024, “I tell the guys I play everything. I’m average in everything. I’m not really good at one (game).”

It might not be surprising that Soto likes to stick to sports when he plays video games. He talked about MLB: The Show as one of his preferred games, and also said he likes to play NBA 2K.

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Juan Soto has two siblings, one of which is also a baseball player. His brother Elian Soto plays in the Washington Nationals minor league system. Elian was signed in January 2023 to a $225,000 signing bonus, according to ESPN. Soto also has an older sister named Natali.

According to Baseball Reference, Elian Soto hasn’t quite fared as well in his baseball career as his brother. Juan Soto got off to a scintillating start in his minor league career, but Elian has hit just .178 through two seasons.

There are few players, if any, in MLB today with the type of discipline and hand-eye coordination that Soto possesses. This razor-sharp focus was honed in the Dominican Republic, where Soto grew up. According to MLB’s website, Soto’s father would toss bottle caps and crumpled up pieces of paper to help Juan lock in on the target.

According to ESPN, Juan Soto hit from both sides of the plate as a youngster, but would eventually switch to hitting lefty fulltime. He demonstrated a “natural gift” from that side of the plate.

It’s only fair to wonder what type of bat Soto uses, considering he gets so many hits and drives the ball to all fields. According to Old Hickory Bat Company’s website, his preferred piece of lumber is the AJ25. They believe the abbreviation is a nod to former MLB star Andruw Jones, who wore the number 25 throughout his career.

The bat is described as having a medium barrel with an extra thin handle.

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According to North Jersey’s website, Soto’s favorite meal is 'pastelón de platano maduro'. It’s comprised of sweet mashed plantains, meat and cheese.

Soto’s mother Belkis Pacheco’s cooking talents have been discussed in the past. Soto told North Jersey’s website, “anything she makes is great.”

Thanks to his prodigious stats, Soto has become a feared opponent in the batter’s box. Even before he took his place as one of the game’s greats, he wanted to gain the upper hand. He told ESPN in October 2019, “I think it’s a fight, just the pitcher and me. I forget about everybody that’s around me—I just think of the pitcher and me.” The Soto shuffle, as it's known, has intimidated pitchers for years.

As ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez described, “he’ll swing his hips or spread his legs or sweep his feet or shimmy his shoulders or lick his lips.” The star hitter has said in the past this all helps him stay on time at the plate, but it also gets in the head of opposing pitchers.

Soto said in the summer of 2022 that he is a big fan of the NBA. It’s not surprising considering his love for the NBA 2K video game, but it seems like he is a fan of one team in particular.

When Soto stated he loved the NBA, he also revealed that he purchased Al Horford and Jayson Tatum jerseys.

Even though Soto always remains calm at the plate, it appears that he likes to watch TV series that keep him on the edge of his seat. During an introductory interview with the New York Mets, Soto cited Prison Break and Breaking Bad as his favorite series.

During the same interview, Soto said when asked about his favorite movie, “I don’t know. I’m a war movie guy so it calls Lone Survivor.” Lone Survivor is a 2013 film starring Taylor Kitsch and Mark Wahlberg.

There might not be anyone who has a better story about drinking his first ale than Juan Soto. He turned 21 shortly, a few days before his Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series. Soto told MLB’s website during their festivities, “I’m thankful to be celebrating this with my first beer with these guys. This is incredible.”

Soto’s birthday is October 25, and the MLB playoffs usually start in early October. That meant that Soto could not legally drink beer with his Nationals teammates when they celebrated their NLDS and NLCS victories. MLB’s website wrote that Soto drank sparkling water during those celebrations.

Mets fans are hoping that Soto can become one of the franchise’s greatest players. For someone who is so talented, it might surprise some to realize that when Soto plays his first game as a Met, he’ll be suiting up for his fourth team before the age of 27. However, he revealed that his favorite team growing up was the Boston Red Sox.

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Soto told MLB’s website that he was a fan of the Red Sox because of his connection to stars like Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez. The Red Sox hoped their lineage of Dominican stars could convince Soto to sign with them, but the Mets’ offer blew Boston’s out of the water.