It was hard to imagine when Bryce Harper hit his 100th career home run in 2016 that another Nationals player would reach the milestone at a younger age.
But Tuesday night in Atlanta, Juan Soto did just that, smashing his 100th homer at 23 years and 169 days old — 12 days younger than Harper was when he achieved the feat. Soto’s historic home run was the lone bright spot in the Nationals’ 16-4 loss to the defending-champion Braves.
Soto’s long ball — a smash to right field off a cutter from Braves pitcher Bryce Elder — vaulted him into an elite club filled with former and future Hall of Famers. Soto is now one of 23 players in MLB history to hit homer No. 100 before turning 24. He’s the eighth youngest player on the list.
No. 100 for Juan Soto went 451 feet 😲
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 13, 2022
(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/E0vPtfvXNy
“For me, it’s just a blessing,” Soto told reporters after the game, per MASN’s Mark Zuckerman. “It just comes to me. I never tried to hit a homer, or anything like that. I’m one of the guys who just tries to hit singles every day. So for me to become consistent hitting homers, it’s just impressive and it tells how good I’ve been working on my body and everything.”
The players in baseball history to reach the feat younger than Soto are: Mel Ott (22 years, 132 days), Tony Conigliaro (22 years, 197 days), Eddie Mathews (22 years, 292 days), Alex Rodriguez (23 years, 16 days), Andruw Jones (23 years, 62 days), Miguel Cabrera (23 years, 127) and Johnny Bench (23 years, 161 days).
Soto is now among seven active players to reach the century mark in dingers before turning 24: Cabrera, Harper, Ronald Acuna Jr. (23 years, 184 days), Albert Pujols (23 years, 185 days), Giancarlo Stanton (23 years, 221 days) and Mike Trout (23 years, 253 days).
Other players to achieve the milestone include: Hank Aaron (23 years, 200 days), Ken Griffey Jr. (23 years, 206 days), Frank Robinson (23 years, 230 days), Mickey Mantle (23 years, 242 days), Jimmie Foxx (23 years, 250 days), Ted Williams (23 years, 264 days), Juan Gonzalez (23 years, 269 days), Joe DiMaggio (23 years, 273 days), Orlando Cepeda (23 years, 295 days) and Hal Trosky (23 years, 307 days).
“It’s awesome,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters after the game, per MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato. “He’s so young, and for him to get his 100th home run at this early stage in his career, he’s going to hit a lot more. I’m happy for him.”
The home run Tuesday was Soto’s second of the season. Both long balls were indeed long — as the first homer traveled 428 feet and the second went 451 feet.
The 2021 National League MVP runner-up first homered in 2018 at 19 years old — a deep shot versus the Padres on May 21 in his second career at-bat.
19 years old. Second career at-bat. First career home run.
— MLB (@MLB) May 21, 2018
Unbelievable, Juan Soto! pic.twitter.com/eqSbfiCuyz
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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