New York Yankees star Juan Soto established a new single-season career high on Tuesday, launching his 40th home run of the year in a blowout win against the Seattle Mariners. Soto's home run had greater historic significance than simply representing a new personal best, however. For starters, it was his first career home run at T-Mobile Park, meaning that he's now gone deep in all 30 current MLB ballparks.
"It's a great feeling for me; so many different ballparks, so many different dimensions," Soto told reporters, including MLB's Bryan Hoch. "I just want to get all of them checked in. What a way to go into free agency, with all 30 ballparks checked on my list."
Juan Soto on which milestone was going through his head as he was rounding the bases after tonight's homer:
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 18, 2024
"I'm thinking more about the stadiums definitely... Being in the AL now I was like I have a really good chance to do it, so right when I hit it I was like 'Oh finally.'" pic.twitter.com/Tl4kUOjn0k
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Soto is one of six players who have homered in all 30 current ballparks. The others? Carlos Santana, Manny Machado, Randal Grichuk, Matt Olson, and Soto's current Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton. Here's a list of the five ballparks where Soto has done his most damage to date:
- Nationals Park (Nationals): 50 home runs
- Yankee Stadium (Yankees): 23 home runs
- Petco Park (Padres): 18 home runs
- Citizen Bank's Park (Phillies): 13 home runs
- Tie: Citi Field (Mets) and Truist Park (Braves): 12 home runs
Unsurprisingly, the top five (or six) consists of the three ballparks Soto has played his home games and a few past divisional foes from his time with the Nationals -- the team that he's logged the most games with thus far in his career.
What's more is that Soto, 25, is now tied with Frank Robinson and Albert Pujols for the seventh-most home runs (200) prior to a player's 26th birthday. Soto won't blow out his candles until late October, meaning that he has 11 more regular-season games to improve his positioning. Jimmie Foxx possesses that particular record, having decked 222 of those bad boys back in the day.
Soto enters Wednesday's contest batting .287/.417/.576 (177 OPS+) on the year. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, he'll head into the offseason ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 1 available free agent.
