WEST PALM BEACH http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , Fla. (AP) — It might seem as if Juan Soto has a big hole to fill in the Washington Nationals‘ lineup, what with Bryce Harper gone.Soto is not the sort to worry about that type of thing, though. Last season’s surprise runner-up as NL Rookie of the Year at age 19, he’s carefree and self-believing as can be, by all accounts.Which is good, because he could very well be the No. 3 hitter for Washington, counted on to make the offense go. Everyone around Soto seems to think he’ll be up for whatever challenges Year 2 brings.“He’s as ready as you could possibly be at, shoot, 20 years old,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle said Thursday, before Soto homered for the second consecutive exhibition game. “He has a very mature approach — the way he prepares. He loves doing all the work behind the scenes. He’s always in the cage or in the weight room. Keeps his head down. He’s a quiet guy, by nature, and he doesn’t seek out the spotlight.”Young as he is, Soto sounds like an old soul, speaking about the “process” of spring training during his first taste of big league camp — he started last season, believe it or not, at low-A ball — and getting ready for the regular season “step by step, every day.”Asked whether he can improve on what he showed last year, Soto crossed his arms and replied: “My approach with that is: just the same.”The Nationals certainly would take more of the same.Soto made his debut last May after all of eight games at Double-A and he hit .292 with 22 homers Edwin Encarnacion Jersey , 25 doubles and 70 RBIs in only 116 games. He walked a whopping 79 times, helping produce a .406 on-base percentage. His slugging percentage was .517. His three multihomer games were the most by a teenager in big league history.“I don’t see any difference from where he was last year to where he is this year. If I had to say anything, maybe a little bit more confident, that he knows he belongs here,” manager Dave Martinez said. “And that’s a good feeling.”No one is too worried about Soto’s hitting. The two key areas that need shoring up: defense and baserunning.Martinez knows it. So does Soto, who learned left field on the fly in Washington a year ago, having played only seven games there in the minors, where he usually was in right or center.Every morning in Florida, Soto said, he puts in extra work with his glove.“It was almost borderline unfair that we put him out in left field, but it was by necessity,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “What he has shown us, in so many different ways, is the mental maturity and the outstanding makeup of a superstar player. And he is not satisfied.”The quality that stands out to everyone is Soto’s discipline at the plate, something he began honing at the prompting of a hitting coach in the minors.“He doesn’t swing unless it’s a strike. That’s pretty impressive. Pretty hard to do at the highest level when you’re a teenager,” Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said.Turner thinks that skill will help Soto “counteract” whatever adjustments opposing pitchers make when facing him this season.“We saw last year that his approach at the plate is really, really advanced. You don’t see him over-swing and get outside of his mechanics and try to do too much,” Doolittle said. “You see him use the whole field. You see him really dial it in with two strikes. It lends itself to giving himself a good chance to follow up and pick up where he left off. I’m excited to see what he does next.” LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vin Scully joined the widow of Jackie Robinson to honor the player who broke baseball’s color barrier during Robinson’s centennial birthday celebration Monday night.Scully greeted 96-year-old Rachel Robinson with a kiss after being introduced to the crowd, with Scully drawing the loudest cheers in a rare public appearance.He stood behind Rachel with his hands holding her arms during the national anthem at Dodger Stadium. They were joined by Robinson’s daughter http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , Sharon, and son, David, who linked arms with their mother as they walked on the field.Robinson became the first black player in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. Scully began calling the team’s games three years later, and the now-retired Hall of Fame announcer was friendly off the field with the man he called “Jack.”Only 7.7% of current MLB players are black, according to MLB.“If not for Jackie Robinson, I probably wouldn’t be here today playing baseball in the United States,” said Cincinnati Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig, who came from Cuba to chase his pro aspirations. “That’s the reason we respect this day.”Robinson, who died at age 53 in 1972, would have turned 100 on Jan. 31.His No. 42 was worn by every major leaguer Monday. The number was retired around the league in 1997.“For me, it’s a big opportunity and responsibility that I hold very dear to my heart,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “To put this uniform on today and wear that number today, 42, it’s always special.”Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black recalled reading about Robinson as a youngster.“To this day I still read about him,” Black said in San Diego. “What a pioneer. What a great example of a human being and what he meant to our country, and in the bigger picture, what he meant for all of us culturally http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , not only in baseball, but in society.”In Minnesota, Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo started his pregame media session at 3:42 p.m. CDT in honor of Robinson.“That’s probably one of the people in baseball I wish I would’ve met,” he said.At Dodger Stadium, the pregame ceremonies included 42 current and former Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars. Students from Cleveland Elementary, Washington Middle School and John Muir High — all attended by Robinson while growing up in nearby Pasadena — were on hand.Robinson’s No. 42 was cut into the center field grass.The Robinson siblings each tossed out first pitches. David’s was a strike to Roberts, while Sharon’s bounced on its way to catcher Russell Martin.Sharon Robinson works as MLB’s education programming consultant.The Dodgers hosted an invitation-only 100th birthday celebration in the Stadium Club featuring a sneak preview of the Jackie Robinson Museum, set to open in December in New York City.Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and former Dodger Matt Kemp, now with the Reds, came out to home plate to pose with Scully and the Robinson family before the game.Missing from this year’s LA ceremonies was Don Newcombe, the third black pitcher in the major leagues when he was with the Brooklyn and later Los Angeles Dodgers. He and Robinson were among the first four black players named to an All-Star team. Newcombe died in February at age 92.Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson hosted more than 75 kids for a screening of the Robinson biopic “42.”“It’s tough to watch it,” Anderson said. “But it’s brave on his part, for him to be that guy to go through that and just be a leader and basically break the barrier. A guy that I look up to and a guy that motivates me.”The Seattle Mariners visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City on a recent road trip.“It takes a special person, a special man to go about it, to take as much backlash as he did and still did that in a professional manner,” Mariners infielder Tim Beckham said. “It speaks a lot about Jackie Robinson.”Major league players made a $100,000 grant to the Jackie Robinson Foundation in honor of his 100th birthday. It helps fund the college scholarship program run by the foundation, which was founded by Rachel Robinson.