Nationals Hitting Coach Kevin Long on Juan Soto’s Swing

Kevin Long said jointed WFAN Sports Radio’s Sweeny Murti to talk Nationals, and more namely; Juan Soto. While mentioning that Soto is even more impressive a person, he raved about his swing mechanics. Recently, I had a buddy say that this is going to be the next Manny Ramrirez in baseball. While I think that Soto will put up those kind of numbers from his ripe young age, I think Soto will develop into a class all of his own with few comparable players.

Here are some snippets from the interview.

“I’m amazed at the things this guy can do. I think it’s the kid, No. 1, the kid is so special, just a great human being. You know, people used to talk — I remember Jim Leyland talked about Curtis Granderson, how he’d want him to marry his daughter. That’s the way I feel about Juan Soto.”

He continued on, and stories like this are nice to hear because on the field, Soto seems like he’s got some motherfucker in him. Meaning that; he seems like a killer, a bad ass. A bit brash.

“My wife was staying at a hotel and she was looking for a package and it wasn’t there, and there was a big crowd around her and she was kind of making a scene. Juan Soto walks over, he taps her on the shoulder, and he says, ‘Mrs. Long, is everything okay? Is there anything I can do to help?’ Now this is a young man who — he’s from the Dominican, he is really, really young. He sees my wife, who he knows, and he’s just going over to check on her. Just to make sure. I’m already at the field, I’ve been at the field forever, and it was just one of those things where she had talked to me about it and I had said… that means a lot to me.”

Finally – I didn’t realize that Soto was up for a Gold Glove – until now.

“How he improved in left field, no one even talks about that. This guy was up for a Gold Glove, he almost could have won it. And that part of it if really special as well. Needless to say the talent is off the charts, but the kid is really what sticks out to me.”

This is a guy I can’t wait to see and read and learn more about in 2020. Furthermore, any number of young players have come onto the scene like this a little bit and failed to deliver (Carlos Correa feels a little bit like one). But you get the feeling Soto is going to be one rare bird as he continues to get more games logged.

Then there’s always this.

I’ll always remember that as a ‘wow’ moment.