Nationals outfielder Juan Soto didn’t waste any time once he was able to take the field in 2020. After missing the beginning of the season following a positive COVID test, Soto hit .351 with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs in 47 games. He led the National League in batting average and all of baseball in on-base percentage (.490), slugging (.695) and OPS (1.185).
Unsurprisingly, Soto received the first Silver Slugger Award of his career. The Nationals are hoping he can replicate that performance this season and lead them to the postseason for the fourth time in six years.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Soto finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 following a 22-homer, 70-RBI campaign. He was even better in 2019, going yard 34 times and driving in 110 runs for the World Series champions.
En route to that World Series, it was Soto’s hit in the bottom of the eighth inning of the wild-card game that completed the Nationals’ comeback win over the Brewers. After the game, Soto told TBS that he and his family had prayed beforehand.
“We just prayed before the game,” Soto said. “And we told Him that we just need His help.”
Soto then went deep twice in Washington’s upset of the Dodgers in the NLDS, and was one of the stars of the World Series, producing three home runs, two doubles, six runs scored and seven RBIs.
Soto expressed gratitude to God throughout Washington’s postseason run. After defeating the Cardinals in the NLCS, he posted a picture on Instagram of him holding the trophy with the caption, “For you my God be the glory” (translated):
Prior to the World Series, he gave God the credit for his career.
“It’s a blessing from God, to be here in the big leagues and play baseball like I have,” Soto told the New York Times. “I never thought I’d be this talented of a player.”
The 22-year-old regularly wears a wristband that displays “1 Cor. 13:13, Faith, Hope, Love,” and often references his faith on social media. He has Philippians 4:13 listed in his Instagram bio.
Last March, as the world started to shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Soto shared a post that said, “Smile, you don’t know what God is protecting you from” (translated).
Already one of baseball’s premier hitters with a batting title and two top-10 finishes in MVP voting just three years into his career, Soto is poised to be one of the sport’s biggest stars for years to come. Through his rapid rise to stardom, he’s stayed grounded in his faith and redirected the praise he’s received to God.
San Diego Padres player Gavin Sheets rounds the bases after hitting a home run, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
San Diego Padres slugger Gavin Sheets made Major League Baseball history last week when he became the first player to hit three go-ahead, three-run, ninth-inning home runs in the same season. What’s more, he accomplished the feat before the middle of May.
He continued his hot start to the season by following it up with three home runs over the weekend against the Seattle Mariners, including two in Sunday’s game.
“It’s a cool honor. You think of all the players in the National League, and to win that for a week is pretty exciting,” Sheets told MLB Network. “But, more importantly, we played really good baseball and had two really good series on the road.”
Since arriving in San Diego before last season on a minor-league deal, Sheets has provided much-needed spark and versatility to a Padres lineup looking to keep pace with the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He made the opening-day roster last year and responded with the best season of his career: a .252 batting average, 19 home runs and 71 RBIs — all career highs. The Padres reached the postseason, but lost to the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round.
Sheets has picked up where he left off, batting .254 this year with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 44 games played, and he’s a key reason the Padres are sitting just a half-game behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings. He’s also considered one of the leaders in the clubhouse despite being in only his second full season with the club.
“I think it’s something that’s organically happened,” he told MLB Network. “Last year I came in and built relationships with the guys around here. It’s such a great clubhouse and such a great culture. Everybody just wants to win. I think there’s a respect factor when you go about things the right way and put in the work.”
There was a time earlier in his career when he would’ve let those numbers and that success define him. That mindset crumbled and his perspective shifted entirely during the pandemic-shortened season in 2020.
Sheets was drafted in the second round by the Chicago White Sox in 2017 out of Wake Forest and quickly began ascending the minor league system. He put together his best pro season in Double-A in 2019 and earned an invitation to major league spring training in 2020. Then the pandemic brought everything to an abrupt halt.
“I remember thinking, ‘This is OK. This isn’t the path I had. This isn’t the way my plan was going, but that’s OK. Baseball is going to come back and we’ll be fine,'” he said in a Sports Spectrum “I Once Was” video.
Later that June, baseball did resume — though in an abbreviated, 60-game season without fans. The minor league season was canceled, but some players were asked to report to what was essentially extended spring training to play intrasquad games against teammates. But not everyone would be participating. Some players in the organization would stay home without structured baseball activity for the time being.
A bunch of guys started getting calls about when to show up to the facility and getting relayed logistics about the season and their assignment. Sheets’ phone never rang.
“I had made baseball this idol in my life,” he said in the video. “All of my plans in all my mind, my relationships, everything was in this idol that I’d created, and I didn’t know what to do. It was a mix of emotions — anger and questioning. It was the first time that I’d really searched for God, in that moment.”
It was also the first time he realized baseball would go on whether he was a part of it or not. That was a hard pill to swallow.
“So, this thing that I had put my identity in, I’m sitting at home watching it go on. I’m watching these guys play and I’m not a part of it, and it’s not slowing down,” he said while speaking at a chapel event last month for Christian Unified Schools of San Diego. “I realized I’m putting my identity in something that doesn’t care for me.”
He soon thereafter received a text message from his college coach, Tom Walter, whom he hadn’t spoken to in about a year. The message included a story about a pastor and a farmer that was meant to provide comfort and remind Sheets to trust in God when things happen that we don’t understand.
The text also read: “You’ve always risen to the occasion. This will be no exception. Hang in there. Love you, brother.” Reading it made him break down in tears.
“I just thank God,” he said. “I just felt His presence for the first time where I needed Him the most, where I called out to Him. It was the first time where I felt myself giving my whole path to God, giving my whole future to God, giving my whole life to God and just saying, ‘I can’t do this on my own.'”
Later that summer, while visiting his grandparents, his grandfather fell and broke his leg. Because baseball had been put on pause, Sheets was able to stay home for several weeks and help care for him alongside his grandmother. Then his aunt — whom he described as being like a second mother to him — became ill and passed away later that same summer. He was there with her when she took her final breath.
“Being there and being with my family and realizing that God had greater plans than I could’ve ever imagined,” he said in the video. “The plans that I had for myself were not even half of what God had planned for me.”
That season made him realize he wasn’t using baseball or his platform to glorify God, and that needed to change. Sheets continued training on his own, and used the time to learn how to play outfield in an effort to make himself more valuable to a roster. He made his major-league debut the following year — at a position he had never played before, which he learned while being at home during the pandemic.
“Now I’m here to share my journey and how it all took a turn for a path that was even greater than I expected,” he said.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
As the calendar ticks toward summer and the first quarter of the 2026 MLB campaign draws to a close, a record-setting season may be brewing in Milwaukee.
Brewers relief pitcher Aaron Ashby has already notched eight wins (with no losses) this season in just 21 appearances, currently two more than any other pitcher in baseball, starter or reliever. Those eight wins are also already a career high for the 27-year-old in his fifth year at the MLB level.
Ashby boasts an impressive 2.17 ERA so far in 2026, nearly matching his career-high 2.16 ERA during his breakthrough season a year ago. His hot start has been so hot, racking up so many wins, that he’s actually accomplished something that hasn’t been done in modern MLB history, which is saying something for the oldest major professional sports league in the United States. According to OptaSTATS, he is the first to collect two more relief wins than any other MLB pitcher had total wins at the end of any given day.
After Friday night, the @Brewers' Aaron Ashby now has 8 wins this year – all in relief. No one else in MLB has more than 6 wins.
It's the first time in the modern era a pitcher had at least 2 more relief wins than any other MLB pitcher had total wins at the end of any given day. pic.twitter.com/bBVianwJfU
The record for the most wins by a relief pitcher in MLB history is 18, set by Roy Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959 (57 appearances). The number seems astronomical, but Ashby is nearly halfway there and it’s only May.
It’s uncommon for this to occur with relief pitchers, because their appearances are often so short. For example, Ashby’s longest appearance this season was on May 1, when he pitched 2.2 innings against the Washington Nationals. It wasn’t even one of his eight wins.
Ashby’s expertise on the mound this season has helped Milwaukee to a 26-18 record, good for second in a competitive National League Central. But now, as his performance is drawing attention from every corner of the baseball world, the lefty originally from Kansas City will continue to be steadied by the steadfast love of Jesus.
“I recently became a father,” Ashby wrote in a devotional for the Spring 2026 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine, “and it’s helped me gain a new glimpse into how much Christ loves us. … My wife and I look down on [our son] with this love we didn’t even know was possible — and that’s how God looks down on us.”
Before becoming parents, Ashby and his wife, Avery, struggled with fertility issues. It was a time that drove them to cling to God’s Word in Psalm 23.
“To go through that valley of darkness (v. 4) and then see it redeemed,” he wrote, “it feels like we’re now in a moment of green pastures (v. 2).”
“We never understand what God’s doing when we’re in the midst of a tough time. We don’t know the full picture like He does,” Ashby wrote of the darkness of infertility. “If you’re in a low moment and wondering what God is doing right now, let me encourage you to be prayerful and lean on someone around you.
“… You’ll soon look back on what you experienced and know God was with you through it all, giving you confidence that He actually never leaves your side.”
Confident in God’s presence, Ashby will seek to continue his hot start and keep Milwaukee on its playoff trajectory. The Brewers begin a three-game series on the road against the division-leading Chicago Cubs (29-18) on Monday at 7:40 p.m. ET.
Zion Rose, an outfield prospect from the University of Louisville, caught my attention heading into this year. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury just before the college season began, but since returning, he’s been absolutely on fire.
From left: Leslee, Ethan and Matt Holliday. (Photo courtesy of the Hollidays)
Our kids are growing up in a world where everything can be seen, shared, praised, and criticized. Image is everything. When I was younger, I never could have imagined a world where life is on display like it is today. There used to be a quietness growing up, space to figure things out with a few close friends.
That way of life is gone.
Raising kids today often feels like an impossible task. They are growing up in a world where their every move, choice, or flaw can make them fodder for social media. Many moms I talk with feel a heavy burden to help their kids build an identity that can sustain attacks.
And as a parent, that responsibility can feel overwhelming.
Matt and I have been married for 25 years. We dealt with our own share of scrutiny and public opinion throughout his career in professional baseball. We grew together, rooted in our faith, and learned to navigate the often harsh world of sports commentary.
But now, our two oldest boys, Jackson and Ethan, are on those same fields, playing in those same stadiums. They have the eyes of the fans, and what feels like the world, on them constantly.
When they have a bad day, it feels like everybody has an opinion about their worth. Scrutiny comes with the territory, as my boys are professional athletes. But as moms, we aren’t called to make their lives easier; we’re called to prepare them for the difficult seasons.
Consider Mary’s example as a mother. Talk about raising a child who would be publicly watched, misunderstood, and criticized. From the very beginning, her story didn’t fit neatly into people’s expectations. And as Jesus grew, the tension only increased. People questioned Him. Misunderstood Him. Eventually, they rejected Him.
Mary couldn’t shield Jesus from public criticism. She couldn’t control how people responded to Him. She couldn’t stop the hard parts of His story. And Mary had a front-row seat to all of it. But she stayed rooted. She stayed present. She was joyful. She trusted God with the boy who became a man right before her eyes. And that feels familiar.
Because we don’t raise strong, grounded kids by removing pressure. We raise them by helping them learn how to stand in it.
And maybe, in a world that watches everything, the most powerful thing we can do as parents is this: Create a home where our kids know they are seen for who they are — not for how they perform. A place where they don’t have to earn love. Where they can bring both their wins and their struggles. Where they know that when the noise of the world gets loud, they still have a place that is steady.
Drawing from Scripture, Mary’s life and my own experience, I’d like to offer a few specific principles to help moms raise resilient, faithful kids in today’s world…
