Alfonso Soriano has made it clear that his legs are still not at 100%. Gone might be the days when he can steal you 40 bases but maybe that might be a good thing. If Lou P can get his head out of his, ah, well you know, he might realize that Alfonso is more valuable as a clean up hitter than the first bat in the lineup. The reason for his need to put Soriano first is because he feels Alfonso can get on base, steal 2nd and then be driven in by the bats behind him. But look at how many RBI Soriano lost last year because he was batting first? Alfonso had 39 HR's but only 85 RBI. Take away 39 from 85 and you get 46. Soriano only batted in 46 players (not named Alfonso). That stinks folks! Can you imagine what his RBI numbers would be if "SWEET" Lou woke the heck up and put Soriano where he needs to be?
So maybe, and you heard this first from me, maybe Soriano will bless us with his leg injury by having a few less stolen bases and a whole lot more RBI should he finally convince Lou that he would help the team by being moved down the the 3rd or 4th slot.
Soriano has stated repeatedly that he does not feel comfortable batting in the middle of the order. And, without looking at the numbers right now, I believe the stats do show that. Pinella is smart enough to know that on paper Soriano should bat fifth or third but in reality it's just not going to work. Alfonso really is a modern day Bobby Bonds.
My report comes from Spring Training however you can find some info about his legs at CBS. However I am not supposed to provide links to other sites. So says the management. They say thats a no, no.
Feb 26 The Chicago Tribune reports Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano has been trying to overcome his fear of running into the brick walls at Wrigley Field and causing serious damage to himself. "I have no problems running from side to side or running to make a catch in front of me," he said. "The only problem I have sometimes is running backward because I'm scared of hitting the wall. But I'm working very hard in spring training to get better."
Big Cubs fan here...some quick notes...the "afraid of running into the walls" thing is true, but whatever, that shouldn't matter to fantasy owners.
Soriano said his quad is only 75-80% right now, but feels completely confident that he'll be 100% by opening day.
Lou Pinella said he'll bat Soriano in the leadoff spot IF HEALTHY, followed by Theriot, FUKUDOME, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa (pending heart issue), Soto, Pie (or whoever the starting CF is), then the pitcher. However, Lou said that if Soriano is not 100% healthy, he may change the lineup around.
Steve Stone (local Chicago legend and fantastic baseball analyst) has said that Soriano is a great fastball hitter and on average, leadoff guys get more fastballs thrown their way to try and avoid having the 1st batter get on base (i.e. easier to get a fastball across the plate then a curveball or whatever).
Personally, especially with the DeRosa issues, I hope the Cubs trade for Brian Roberts and have an everyday lineup of: Roberts, Theriot, Lee, A-Ram, Soriano, Fukudome, Soto, CF, pitcher...great lineup
DRAFTAHOLIC wrote:Alfonso Soriano has made it clear that his legs are still not at 100%. Gone might be the days when he can steal you 40 bases but maybe that might be a good thing. If Lou P can get his head out of his, ah, well you know, he might realize that Alfonso is more valuable as a clean up hitter than the first bat in the lineup. The reason for his need to put Soriano first is because he feels Alfonso can get on base, steal 2nd and then be driven in by the bats behind him. But look at how many RBI Soriano lost last year because he was batting first? Alfonso had 39 HR's but only 85 RBI. Take away 39 from 85 and you get 46. Soriano only batted in 46 players (not named Alfonso). That stinks folks! Can you imagine what his RBI numbers would be if "SWEET" Lou woke the heck up and put Soriano where he needs to be?
So maybe, and you heard this first from me, maybe Soriano will bless us with his leg injury by having a few less stolen bases and a whole lot more RBI should he finally convince Lou that he would help the team by being moved down the the 3rd or 4th slot.
Only time will tell.
DRAFTAHOLIC!!!
The problem with your logic here is that it doesn't account for Soriano getting a lot more AB's hitting leadoff than he would hitting cleanup. All those extra AB's result in extra HR's.
The problem with your logic here is that it doesn't account for Soriano getting a lot more AB's hitting leadoff than he would hitting cleanup. All those extra AB's result in extra HR's.
I do not agree. What batting order was he in when he was hitting when he went 40/40?
hwiggen wrote:Soriano has stated repeatedly that he does not feel comfortable batting in the middle of the order. And, without looking at the numbers right now, I believe the stats do show that. Pinella is smart enough to know that on paper Soriano should bat fifth or third but in reality it's just not going to work. Alfonso really is a modern day Bobby Bonds.
No, the numbers don't show it. In 2004 he was a solid 3 hitter at TEX, in 2005 he had a monster year at the 5 spot in TEX. Only in 06 and 07 has he mainly hit as the leadoff.
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by DRAFTAHOLIC » Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:23 pm 
You really almost had me running to the toilet. I guess he has been grossly overhyped for another 40/40 from ESPN rankings. Interesting
