Padres’ Juan Soto revs up Dodgers rivalry: ‘They should be worrying about us’

The San Diego Padres made the splashy move ahead of last season’s trade deadline to acquire young slugger Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals.

Soto appeared in 52 games for the Padres and hit .236 with .778 OPS. He hit six home runs in that span and the Padres made it to the National League Championship Series before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games.

With San Diego off to a 7-5 start to the 2023 season, Soto said the Los Angeles Dodgers should be on notice and not the other way around. Los Angeles has won the National League West in nine out of the last 10 seasons.

“I think we don’t worry about them,” Soto said on TBS’ “The Leadoff.” “They should be worrying about us. We showed up last year. We showed them what we had in the playoff… and beat them. Now we add more players. We have more depth in our lineup. We have one of the best bullpens in the league. I think they should be worried about us. We’re not worried about anybody.”

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Soto has played in all 12 games for the Padres and hit two home runs along with a .190 batting average and a .739 OPS.

San Diego has gone out and traded for top-level players and signed top-level talent to maintain their position. The team will also get Fernando Tatis Jr. back later this season.

The Padres have never won a World Series. They made two appearances. The Padres have only made three NLCS appearances.