Juan Soto has hit a bit of a slump recently. While he leads the league in walks, he's been struggling to put the ball in play. He's struck out a career-high 21 times in his last 15 games.
Since becoming a member of the San Diego Padres, Soto hasn't produced at the rate the team had hoped. Through 76 games, Soto has only 10 home runs to his name.
The slugger is in the final year of his contract, so his struggles are coming at the worst time. With each strikeout, his chances of getting a mega-deal slip away.
Soto needs to turn it around, not just for his sake but for the team as well. They're 13-14 to start the season. Many had the Padres winning the division going into the season.
"Starting to regret turning down that $440 million offer yet?" one fan tweeted.
"Thought it was me expecting too much from him... Soto's AB's are unwatchable now," another fan tweeted.
San Diego Padres fans are worried about Juan Soto's performances at the plate. He's hitting .183/.345/.344 with four home runs on the season.
It's still early in the season, so Soto has time to adjust his approach at the plate. It would not be surprising if he flips a switch and turns into the player he once was.
San Diego Padres need Juan Soto to turn it around
The San Diego Padres have been inconsistent throughout much of the season. They tend to surge for 10 runs in one game and then fail to score above two runs in the next.
Part of the blame for this inconsistent offense is Juan Soto himself. Soto did not get his first hit of the series against the Chicago Cubs until the eighth inning of the finale.
The Padres are hitting .216 after their series with the Cubs. They are tied for second with the Detroit Tigers for the worst batting average in the league. Aside from Manny Machado, there hasn't been much to look forward to offensively.
While they've been playing uninspiring baseball as of late, they're still just 1.5 games out of first place in the National League West. They have a ton of time to figure it out and get to the top of the division.