Once upon a time, we used to evaluate MLB players by using stats such as batting average, runs scored, and RBI.
We have come to understand that those numbers, while useful, can’t give us the entire picture about how good or bad a hitter is.
The luck element is very much a part of the batting average calculation, while runs and RBI totals often depend on your supporting cast.
Stats like OBP, slugging, and OPS are more useful.
Adjusted stats like wRC+ and OPS+ are even better because they let us compare a player’s performance relative to the league average, which is 100 in both cases.
San Diego Padres slugger Juan Soto didn’t quite have his best season in 2022, but he was utterly dominant nonetheless.
Combine that with his past performance, and you have a generational talent.
“Highest OPS+ through age-23 season, min 2000 PA: Ted Williams: 190; Ty Cobb: 171; Mike Trout: 169; Albert Pujols: 165; Juan Soto: 157; Eddie Mathews: 157,” MLB stats expert Sarah Langs tweeted.
Highest OPS+ through age-23 season, min 2000 PA:
Ted Williams: 190
Ty Cobb: 171
Mike Trout: 169
Albert Pujols: 165
Juan Soto: 157
Eddie Mathews: 157— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) January 9, 2023
OPS+, per MLB’s official website, “takes a player’s on-base plus slugging percentage and normalizes the number across the entire league. It accounts for external factors like ballparks. It then adjusts so a score of 100 is league average, and 150 is 50 percent better than the league average.”
We can say, as a result, that Soto has been 57 percent better than his peers through his age-23 campaign.
That’s insanely good.
He is close to two players from his era: Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.
Everyone else?
He is better than them.
Soto is really a special talent, and there is a chance he is MLB’s second $500 million player with Shohei Ohtani being the first.
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