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 the 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospects /25 Orange Refractor Rookie Auto. Collectors found these cards exclusively in Hobby packs, and only four parallels from the '16 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autos Refractor rainbow are rarer (the /10 Shimmer, /5 Red, /3 Twitter Blue, and 1/1 Superfractor).
Gem Mint 9.5 is the highest grade BGS has assigned a 2016 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Juan Soto autograph.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 08/08/2025.
