Livan Soto

Soto looked lke an all-world hitter during his first stint as a major-leaguer in 2022, slashing .400/.414/.582 across 59 plate appearances. Before rushing to add him to your draft board for next season, there is some important context to keep in mind: first, Soto's impressive average came with an unsustainable .500 BABIP, and second, he's never been anywhere close to that level of hitter as a minor-leaguer, posting a career .247 batting average over 1,457 at-bats. He did show significant growth last year with a .281/.379/.362 line in Double-A before jumping up the big club, and that came with an excellent 13.5% walk rate and 18.8% strikeout rate, so there's reason to believe that he can be a successful major-leaguer -- just not one that hits anywhere near .400. Before last season, Soto was looked at as a glove-first infielder, and that will likely still be his calling card to a big-league career. There isn't much power in his profile, but if he can continue to grow at the plate and steal 10-15 bases a season, there's potential for a future starting job. For 2023, he'll likely compete with the likes of Andrew Velasquez and Michael Stefanic for a backup infielder role. Read Past Outlooks