Chris Lingebach from 106.7 The Fan in DC is tasked with telling you why Juan Soto will be a bigger superstar than Gleyber Torres, and I’m tasked with the opposite – and to be fair, neither of us will be surprised if the other is right.
Juan Soto is going to be an elite major-leaguer over the next two decades, and maybe a Hall of Famer if he stays the course, and I won’t even begin to deny that. To nearly win Rookie of the Year as a teenager and to be a Top 10 MVP finisher as a 20-year-old is almost unfathomable.
But I hate to say it in a “Simpsons Did It” way like that South Park episode, but Gleyber Torres has done that, too – and if it wasn’t for injury, he might’ve done it at the same ages, instead of 21 and 22.
Here’s the first thing, though, which makes me think Gleyber will be the bigger superstar: position.
Soto is an outfielder, and outfielders don’t always age gracefully – just look at every center fielder that’s ended his career in a corner, or every corner outfielder that found a first baseman’s mitt in their locker at some point in their 30s. There’s a lot of ground to cover out there, as well as a lot of time to get lazy, and with another young super-stud in Victor Robles right next to him, Soto could end up burning out his legs (and his arm) quicker than Gleyber ever will.
Sure, shortstop is not the easiest position to maintain for an entire career either, especially as an offensive-minded one – just ask Cal Ripken or A-Rod. But Torres, at just 22, has already shown that he can excel on either side of the second base bag, and being a middle infielder of some sort for his career will keep his mind sharper, because he has to be headier on every pitch.
It will also help when you look at resume-builders – for instance, it has already helped Gleyber become a two-time all-Star while Soto hasn’t been invited yet, as there are only 15 starting second basemen or shortstops in a league and 45-50 outfielders. That, and, well, consistently hitting 30+ home runs is new-ish territory for a middle infielder, whereas Soto is at a position historically filled with mashers.
But one other note: look at the numbers both put up in the Minors, and tell me what you see. I’ll tell you what I see: I see one budding star who has never struggled, and one who has seen many struggles.
The former is Soto, who rocketed through the Nationals’ system and put together consistently strong numbers the whole way – heck, the guy started 2018 in the South Atlantic League and was in the Majors less than two months later, and his batting average in DC as a rookie was the worst he had ever put up at any level in one season.
Soto has never known failure, winning a World Series even in year two, and so it remains to be seen what happens if he goes through an extended slump, or an injury, or some kind of setback that will test the resolve of a mind that has only known success. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid who was barely old enough to enjoy the champagne celebration that World Series title brought.
Torres, meanwhile? He’s already been traded as the centerpiece of a deal and had to watch his old team win a title, he’s already been through a Tommy John surgery that all but ended his dreams of being a major-leaguer at age 20, and he’s had to learn to adjust twice to failures – once in 2017, when he was anything but as-advertised in his first taste of High-A ball, and once again in 2016 when he went from the friendly confines of Myrtle Beach to the anything-but-hitters’ park in Tampa.
Gleyber knows what it means, and what it takes, to survive and advance, and adjust along the way. He has also done it under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, with the pressure afforded to being a Top 10 prospect in the game. Soto, World Series be damned, quite simply hasn’t dealt with that, and that may cost him in the long run.
Bright lights, big city in this case means more stardom, and as great of a player I think – scratch that, I know – Soto will be all things considered, I’m drinking the Gleyberade.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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