Juan Soto Called His Shot Before Winning The Home Run Derby

Juan Soto is your 2022 Home Run Derby champion.

The Washington Nationals star was able to block out all the distractions surrounding his status with the Nats and whether or not he would ultimately be traded and put on a show for everybody to see.

Soto took down Jose Ramirez, Albert Pujols, and Julio Rodriguez to capture his first Home Run Derby crown and become the first Nationals player to win it since Bryce Harper did it 2018.

But according to Jeff Passan on Twitter, Soto called his shot before the Derby even began.

Passan asked Soto how he was feeling, to which Soto replied, “pretty good.”

But when Passan asked if he thought he was going to win the Derby, Soto said that he probably would.

About 30 minutes before the Home Run Derby, I asked Juan Soto how he was feeling.

"Pretty good," he said.

Then I asked if he's going to win the Derby.

"Probably," he said.

It's impossible to dislike Soto. Or Julio Rodríguez. Baseball is in great hands with its young stars.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 19, 2022

“Probably”

We all know how it turned out.

Perhaps Soto had a vision.

Maybe he knew something we didn’t.

But he was locked in and his confidence was high as he took down three of the best sluggers in the game to win his first Home Run Derby.

The past two Home Run Derbies had been won by Pete Alonso, but after he was eliminated by Rodriguez, the door was open for Soto to try and make some history, as he barely beat the Seattle Mariners rookie phenom.

But it’s impressive that Soto managed to put all the trade talk on the backburner and focus solely on the Derby, much less win it.

He got himself focused and he went out there and did what he needed to do to eliminate three of the game’s best sluggers.

The trade talks will heat up, but for now, Soto can bask in all the glory of being crowned the new Home Run Derby champ.