Published by
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
By Tom Verducci The greatest hitting prodigy since Ted Williams conquers baseball’s top pitchers with power, patience and contact. Genius may be most familiar under arc lights and with an audience, but it is here, in a batting cage an hour past sunup on a quiet March morning in West Palm Beach, Fla., where it has its foundry. With beautiful violence and the same 75-swing legato, Juan Soto starts every baseball day since he became a professional at 16 years old. There is no technology. No cameras. No Trackman. No accoutrements. It is just a bat, a bucket of baseballs, Nationals hitting coach Jo…