Braves manager Brian Snitker is just like you: He could re-live Jorge Soler’s homer in Game 6 every day.
The Braves’ World Series MVP returned to Truist Park this weekend as a member of the Marlins. Soler, 30, spent only a few months with the Braves in 2021, but he’ll be remembered eternally for helping the franchise secure its second championship since moving to Atlanta. Soler was the World Series MVP after going 6-for-20 (.300) with three homers and six RBIs against the Astros.
“(Friday) has been a wonderful day, coming back here early and hanging out with the guys before batting practice,” Soler said via an interpreter before the series began. “We won the World Series last year. That’s something amazing. Being here is great. It’s a great feeling to share that moment with the guys.”
The Braves were an unlikely champion. Soler was an equally unlikely MVP. General manager Alex Anthopoulos acquired Soler, then hitting .192 for a rebuilding Royals club, during a busy trade deadline last summer in which he retooled the Braves’ outfield after it lost Ronald Acuna and Marcell Ozuna. The July outfield renovation also included newcomers Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario.
Soler went on to hit .269 with an .882 OPS for the Braves, posting 14 homers and 33 RBIs while taking over as the team’s leadoff hitter. He even held his own in right field, where the Braves had a massive hole after Acuna sustained a torn his ACL in mid-July. The Braves went 44-22 after the trade deadline, MLB’s best record over that span.
“He was huge (for us in 2021),” manager Brian Snitker said. “Just from the first day he showed up. We ran him in there, and he did a really, really solid, very good job for us. All the guys (we acquired in July) did, obviously. He made an immediate impact and fit right in. The makeup on that guy is off the charts, too. Just a really good guy and great teammate. He played a big part in what we accomplished.”
Soler missed part of the Braves’ postseason run after he tested positive for COVID-19. He was out for the team’s National League Division Series victory over the Brewers. He logged only two plate appearances in the NL Championship Series before delivering on the grandest stage of them all.
Soler opened the World Series by homering in the first at-bat. But his last home run stood out above the rest. The slugger blasted a 446-foot three-run shot off Luis Garcia into the Houston night sky and out of Minute Maid Park to put the Braves ahead 3-0 in what became their clinching Game 6 victory.
It was perhaps the signature moment of a postseason run that featured many. Soler couldn’t recall his thoughts in the moment he made contact, but he said he recognized the gravity of what he achieved after the World Series ended.
“I felt I made great contact,” he said. “I saw the ball elevated. It kept elevating. I didn’t feel anything at the moment. … But after the game, it was a time of realization, like, ‘Wow, what I did was something.’”
Soler’s production, topped by the monstrous home run that will be played on Braves highlight reels forever, earned him the World Series MVP honor. While he appeared in only 66 games, Soler cemented himself as an integral part of Braves history.
“Just starting the (World Series) off with a homer, then the big one in Game 6,” Snitker said. “He had a lot of really, really big moments for us. I could watch that homer in Game 6 every day, honestly. I love his reactions, what it did for our club, the whole thing. It will always be special to me.”
Whenever Soler is mentioned now, that home run is about always sure to follow. It was the highlight of his career and one of the great moments in Braves history. He revisited it multiple times during the winter.
“Personally, I watched it a couple times,” Soler said. “I put it on myself. But my son, he was playing the same game over and over. I was just walking by and you can see the game on TV.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
The Braves knew all their July outfield acquisitions wouldn’t return for 2022. The team tendered Duvall and ultimately re-signed Rosario to a two-year deal. With Ozuna rejoining the team, and Acuna’s expected early season return, there wasn’t room remaining to keep the band together.
Pederson signed with the Giants, playing near his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Soler stayed in the NL East, signing with an upstart Marlins team trying to supplement its stellar pitching with more firepower.
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Soler went 2-for-3 with a walk in his first game back Friday, which the Braves won 3-0. He received applause during Marlins introductions. Truist Park gave him a standing ovation before his first at-bat, to which he tipped his helmet. He then singled up the middle.
The Braves planned to present Soler with his championship ring on the field before Saturday’s contest. It will be Soler’s second ring (Cubs, 2016).
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I saw the ring. They told me it’s pretty. … (Last season) puts a great emphasis on my career. Winning a World Series is the ultimate goal for a player. Doing that, it was amazing.”
