The Atlanta Braves run to the 2021 World Series was Soler Powered. Many assumed their season was over when young star Ronald Acuna was lost to injury and only the 1964 Cardinals had won a World Series with a below .500 record at the All-Star break. Atlanta made a series of moves including trading for a player who looked like he had peaked in 2019. That 2019 season saw a Kansas City Royals team record 48 Home Runs swatted by Jorge Soler.
That number also represents the most in a single season by a Cuban born player. The Braves took a flyer on Soler who quickly rebounded in the South and put up comparable rate stats to his monster 2019. Soler played sparingly in the first two rounds of the playoffs but Atlanta decided he was their best option to hit lead off in the Series opener, their hunch paid off.
Jorge Soler signed a 9 year $30 million deal with the Cubs in 2012. This came after a very short stint with La Habana in the Cuban National Series but brought big expectations. These lofty expectations might have resulted in the Cubs asking for too much too soon out of the young slugger. A move to Kansas City resulted in a few inconsistent seasons before his break out 2019 when he swatted 48 home runs.
Get Inside the Dugout and follow Jorge Soler from La Habana to the World Series MVP.
