'Pretty loud': Soto swats hardest HR of career

Another home run, another career marker.

On Thursday, slugging right fielder Juan Soto rocked a 90.1 mph fastball from Elieser Hernandez to center field at a personal best 114.1 mph in the Nationals’ 7-5 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park. It was his third-hardest-hit batted ball of his four-year career.

“It was pretty loud,” Soto said. “One of the things that I like to hear every time I hit the ball is just how loud it is.”

Soto’s shot soared 433 feet, marking his second-longest dinger of the season. Manager Dave Martinez noted the elevation on Soto's swing.

“He hit it hard -- it was really hard,” Martinez said. “But I’ve seen Soto hit balls hard consistently. That’s just the kind of swing he has. That was a great swing. He took a borderline pitch before that, got one just a tad up a little bit more and smoked it.”

With all the power Soto exudes when he pummels homers, he pays closer attention to the exit velocity of his infield hits. On Aug. 17, he recorded his hardest-hit batted ball -- a 116.6 mph double to right-center field against the Blue Jays.

“I know most of my homers are 110 [mph],” Soto said. “I feel, sometimes, I hit the ball harder than that, and every time I look up it’s 110. So since '19, '20, I’ve just forgotten about looking at the exit speed of my homers. I look when I hit a single or double, because I think those are coming out harder.”

After hitting 11 home runs over 79 games in the first half of the season, Soto has been connecting at a rapid pace. Thursday marked his 10th homer in 36 games since the All-Star break. The efficiency is even more notable given that he’s also drawn 42 walks in that stretch.

“The big thing about it is he’s getting walked a lot, we know that,” Martinez said. “He’s just got to be ready. We always talk. They’re going to make one or two mistakes per at-bat, and you’ve just got to be ready to hit them.”

Soto’s homer provided a spark on an evening in which Marlins pitching shut down the offense, at least until a ninth-inning, two-run rally. Southpaw Patrick Corbin was chased after allowing six runs in only three innings, his second-shortest outing of an up-and-down season.

Soto is leaving Miami and heading to Queens riding this momentum for a three-game weekend series, where he has done plenty of damage before against the Mets. He belted the two longest homers of his career at Citi Field last season.

“I’ve just got to keep myself in the strike zone, try to look for a specific pitch,” Soto said. “If they don’t do that, just walk. But if they throw it, just try not to miss it.”