Juan Soto plays left field like a 19 year old with a couple of years of pro experience.
Which is exactly what he is. We have no idea if he'll be a decent outfielder or not since he's still learning how to play it. His bat is a decade ahead of the rest of his game. His defense is questionable and his base running is weak, because as a 19-year old, he's still learning those things. If he was running and playing outfield like this at Hagerstown or Potomac - where he was a couple of months ago - he would look pretty average.
I agree and disagree. I think he clearly thinks about the game and will work to get better. But here's the list of guys 20 or under since 1980 who were the worst fielders in defensive runs (Fangraphs):
1. Justin Upton
2. Gary Sheffield
3. Aramis Ramirez
4. Sammy Sosa
5. Juan Soto
Here are the top 5:
1. Manny Machado
2. Andruw Jones
3. Ivan Rodriguez
4. Edgar Renteria
5. Elvis Andrus
The full list makes it pretty clear - even by 19/20 you usually are who you are on the defensive spectrum, and if you can change, you probably are going to get worse not better (Bryce was an above average fielder way back when).
But I am going to tentatively agree that he'll get better, much the same way Kyle Schwarber got better. There's so much you can do with training and nutrition and studying defensive positioning and routes these days, that if you're a true dedicated student of the game I think you can maximize your talent even with limitations. And I hope Juan does that.
