Is Juan Soto the silver lining for Nationals fans if Bryce Harper leaves?

With a Bryce Harper free agency cloud looming over the Nationals, can Juan Soto be the future fans in Washington need?

Juan Soto has been on the fast track to the big leagues, tearing up every level and making quite an impression as the Nationals second-best prospect.

But will he eventually replace Bryce Harper as the franchise player?

It does not seem like it was that long ago that Bryce Harper was impressing as a young prospect. Harper hit the scene in 2012, with his golden glove and silver slugging ability to hit. Now, six years later, it seems that he is on his way out of Washington. So it’s not unreasonable to think that Soto could eventually step into Harper’s place at the very least as the face of the franchise.

Let’s be frank: Harper is impossible to replace. He is a generational superstar talent that can’t be swapped out for anyone of equal value. Soto replacing him is more about the National building a future around a viable star more than it is finding another Harper.

Soto’s Nats career got off on the right foot: he hit a home run 422 feet in his first at-bat. It’s hardly a guarantee that he’ll replace Harper but it’s already going a long way in starting to ease the minds of fans.

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.Though it takes time, and he needs to prove that he can handle playing in the bigs,there’s optimism that Soto can be that face of the franchise if he needs to be. We’re just a few weeks into his career, so all of this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Who knows, maybe Harper stays and everyone wins — but there is a future in Washington, we just don’t know who will be leading the charge.