Soriano Back to Leadoff Spot

[bigh0rt]

Imortant info for you who own him...Theriot to #2...

It only took two games for Lou Piniella to change his mind and put Alfonso Soriano back on top of the Cubs’ lineup.

Piniella said Soriano will lead off on Thursday in the Cubs’ series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers. Soriano is 0-for-9 with three strikeouts so far. Last season, when he led off, the Cubs went 69-56.
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Was [Derrek] Lee surprised by the move? “I guess I shouldn’t be,” Lee said, chuckling. “Lou likes to shuffle things around.”
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Piniella said it wasn’t just Wednesday’s game that prompted him to change his mind and flip-flop Soriano with Ryan Theriot.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about since the end of Spring Training, and we’ll go with it,” Piniella said. “Soriano is running better. We’ll put him in the leadoff hole, where he’s more comfortable, and let him hit there.”

MLB.com | FULL STORY

[Old_Style]

Soriano, historically, puts up better numbers when leading off. Sounds good to me.

[MTUCache]

Just cut Theriot... not that I was looking for a reason to, I just had somebody else I'd rather have on my roster.

In any case, I'm still up in the air on Piniella's base-path strategy this year with his team. Part of me would like to think that he's going to be aggressive and run more (given Theriot/Soriano and a possible Roberts), but until I see it I can completely imagine him going in the other direction too and avoiding any risk whatsoever while Lee/Ramirez/Fukudome do their thing at the plate.

[Cyclone177]

Maybe Soriano can start producing some. I have hated him since he cost the Yanks the series, and so far, I hate him more every day he goes 0 fer.

[BitterDodgerFan]

does this mean soriano runs now? lou said he won't be running until the weather warms up.

theriot was actually 2-4 today, that didn't help?

[OneLoveBoomer]

Theriot will still be a great real-life and fantasy player. He'll be stealing plenty. He hit well today so no worries.

[BigZ38]

Maybe Soriano can start producing some. I have hated him since he cost the Yanks the series, and so far, I hate him more every day he goes 0 fer.

But the day you bench him he goes 4 for 5 with 2 homers, 5 rbis, a steal and 3 runs.

[BJSFAN123]

Soriano might be the most frustrating superstar player to watch...

I remember reading an article talking about how they don't want Soriano running too much...how many SBs can we expect? I don't own him, but he's a good guy to target later on since he started out slow last year and then heated up.

[TBallgame]

I don't know how much the Cubs are going to want him to run this year, but I can understand him leading off. For some strange reason he hits worlds better when leading off. Plus, when leading off he is good for at least 6 leadoff homeruns a year. I do not think we will ever see Soriano put up the SBs like he used to, but I can see his HR numbers go up above an average year

[The Artful Dodger]

I think it's a good move even if it's this early. Theoretically, I'd like to see Soriano in the two-hole as it would spike up his RBI total, but he tends to produce best hitting leadoff.