Zimmerman: Soto an 'outlier' for young stars living up to hype originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Seemingly every year, a fresh new batch of young stars break into the big leagues on teams with hope that they can become franchise building blocks.
They're young, inexperienced and bursting with talent, but while some of them hit like Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna and Fernando Tatis Jr., a large proportion of them fall flat.
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"I think, unfortunately, it puts too much pressure on a lot of these kids, and just to be honest, I don't think a lot of them can handle it," Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman told reporters Friday. "I think it ruins a lot of their careers, to be honest with you."
To Zimmerman, however, his teammate Soto is different. The 22-year-old outfielder was pegged as the Nationals' Bryce Harper replacement and in just three major league seasons has become one of the absolute best hitters in baseball.
"I think Juan is an outlier in the point that he can mentally handle that stuff already," Zimmerman said. "Coming up to the big leagues is hard enough, and then coming up to the big leagues and being expected to have that 'face of the franchise' and being that guy put on you right from the very beginning is just another thing you have to worry about besides hitting 100 MPH fastballs."
The key for young players simply staying in the majors, let alone living up to high expectations set before them, lies in their mentality according to Zimmerman. Baseball is a difficult game and requires a certain level of mental toughness to succeed. He believes Soto has demonstrated the necessary qualities to stick around in this league and continue to play at a high level.
"It comes down to the mental side of the game," Zimmerman said. "The hardest part is getting [to the big leagues] and staying here. Obviously, the bulk of it comes down to whether you're good at baseball or not, but I think another big piece of it is the mental side of it.
"Being able to handle failure, I mean it's a game where you fail a lot," he said. "There's a next Mike Trout every year from Baseball America, there still hasn't been one, I'm still waiting. You have to mentally be able to not fall into the trap. I think Juan knows what type of player he is, obviously he's a really good player, but I think he does a good job of just keeping his head down, doing his work and just trying to be the best player he can be."
Soto went from a key cog in a World Series-winning lineup to a legitimate MVP candidate in his third season. As he prepares for his fourth Opening Day, Soto is starting to get compared to some of the best hitters who ever picked up a bat.
If he can continue to live up to expectation, the Nationals should be in title contention for the foreseeable future.
