Between 2009 and 2015, the Washington Nationals overhauled their training and scouting programs in the Dominican Republic. The opening of their improved training facility coincided with the arrival of a skinny, 16-year-old prospect named Juan Soto.
""We think he's the best left-handed hitter on the market,"" the franchise's international scouting director, Johnny DiPuglia, said after the club signed him for $1.5 million. ""He understands using the whole field and ultimately, we think he's going to have some power.""
Bowman agreed, hailing Soto's ""picturesque lefty swing"" and plate discipline in the ""Bowman Briefing"" on the back of his ""1st Bowman"" cards, such as this /25 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Orange Refractor. Collectors found these cards exclusively in hobby packs. Only four parallels from the 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Refractor rainbow are more rare (the /10 Shimmer, /5 Red, /3 Twitter Blue, and 1/1 Superfractor).
Graded a Gem Mint BGS 9.5, subgrades include 9.5 for Centering, Edges and Surface. The autograph has been assessed as a 10. None have a higher grade in the BGS census.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 05/04/2026.
