If you are a fan of baseball, you may have heard of Mario Soto and Juan Soto, two players who share the same last name and have had successful careers in the Major League Baseball (MLB). But are they related? The answer is no, they are not. Here is why.
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Mario Soto: A Dominican Pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds
Mario Melvin Soto was born on July 12, 1956, in Baní, Dominican Republic. He signed with the Cincinnati Reds as an international free agent in 1975 and made his MLB debut in 1977. He played for the Reds until 1988, mostly as a starting pitcher. He was a three-time All-Star and had a career record of 100 wins and 92 losses, with a 3.47 earned run average (ERA) and 1,449 strikeouts. He also led the National League (NL) in strikeouts in 1982 and in shutouts in 1983. According to Baseball Reference, he is the Reds’ all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings (7.53) and ranks fourth in strikeouts (1,449), sixth in wins (100), and seventh in ERA (3.47) among pitchers who have thrown at least 1,000 innings for the franchise.
Juan Soto: A Dominican Outfielder for the San Diego Padres
Juan José Soto Pacheco was born on October 25, 1998, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2018. He played for the Nationals until 2022, when he was traded to the San Diego Padres. He is an outfielder who bats left-handed and throws left-handed. He is a three-time All-Star, a World Series champion (2019), a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, a Babe Ruth Award winner (2019), and an NL batting champion (2020). He has a career batting average of .285, with 149 home runs and 445 RBIs. He also has a career on-base percentage of .421, a slugging percentage of .523, and an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .944. According to Wikipedia, he is the youngest player to hit a home run in his first World Series at-bat, the youngest player to hit three home runs in a single World Series, and the youngest player to win a batting title in MLB history.
Why They Are Not Related
Although they share the same last name and come from the same country, Mario Soto and Juan Soto are not related by blood or by marriage. They have different parents and siblings, and they grew up in different cities. They also have different physical features, such as height, weight, eye color, and hair color. According to Sportskeeda, Mario Soto is 6 feet tall and weighs 174 pounds, while Juan Soto is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 224 pounds. Mario Soto has brown eyes and black hair, while Juan Soto has green eyes and brown hair.
The reason why they have the same last name is because Soto is a common surname in the Dominican Republic and other Spanish-speaking countries. It comes from the Latin word sotus, which means “grove” or “wood”. It was originally used to describe someone who lived near or worked in a forest or a wooded area. According to Ancestry, there are about 1.2 million people with the surname Soto in the world today, mostly in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
Therefore, Mario Soto and Juan Soto are not related. They are just two baseball players who happen to have the same last name and come from the same country. They have never played on the same team or faced each other on the field. They have different backgrounds, careers, and achievements. However, they both share a passion for baseball and a talent for playing it at a high level. They are both stars of their respective eras and deserve respect and admiration for their contributions to the sport.
