Early this spring, when he was just getting to know his new teammates, Josh Bell talked with reporters about watching Washington Nationals’ slugger Juan Soto closely, even in batting practice, to see how the preternaturally gifted, 22-year-old slugger goes about his business.
“I feel like just watching [Soto’s] BP, how professional it is, and knowing that he’s going to make these pitchers work. First pitch of the season, he’s not a guy that expands the zone,” Bell said in March.
“He makes pitchers work. He works deep into counts. And pitchers start getting tired up there, they start making mistakes.