Washington Nationals phenom Juan Soto hit a home run on Tuesday. In doing so, he continued the season-long trend of passing Hall of Fame players.
With Tuesday’s homer, Soto now has 17 home runs as a teenager. That passed Ken Griffey Jr. on that list.
Soto is now 4th all-time for homers by a teenager trailing only Tony Conigliaro (24), @Bharper3407 (22), and Mel Ott (19). pic.twitter.com/C4KnYKsfVz
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2018
We’re less than three weeks away from the end of the 2018 season and Soto will no longer be a teenager in 2019. Home runs can be tricky. They sometimes come in bunches. If that happens, Soto will actually have a chance at Tony Conigliaro. But extended home run droughts are not unprecedented, either. So nothing is guaranteed.
But even if Soto doesn’t hit another home run this year, he’s not only passed the likes of Griffey and Mickey Mantle, but he’s thrived at an age where most players — even great ones — are still in the minors or in college.