Has Soriano's lack of walks made him a poor leadoff hitter?

[TB_11]

Negatives: He has a total of five walks through 29 games played. The Cubs as a team have six walks out of their leadoff spot after today's game, the worst in the NL (Jimmy Rollins has walked 10 times for the Phillies for the second worst in the NL).

 

Positives: Because he has been hitting the ball well, he's posted a .362 OBP so far, which is sixth best in the NL. For reference, in 2006 the Cubs posted a .329 OBP out of the leadoff spot, and in 2005 a .299 OBP (Thanks Dusty).

 

Has Soriano been a good leadoff hitter?

[Soriano12]

He should not be batting leadoff.

[Yeti]

Negatives: He has a total of five walks through 29 games played. The Cubs as a team have six walks out of their leadoff spot after today's game, the worst in the NL (Jimmy Rollins has walked 10 times for the Phillies for the second worst in the NL).

 

Positives: Because he has been hitting the ball well, he's posted a .362 OBP so far, which is sixth best in the NL. For reference, in 2006 the Cubs posted a .329 OBP out of the leadoff spot, and in 2005 a .299 OBP (Thanks Dusty).

 

Has Soriano been a good leadoff hitter?

no, and now that he is gimpy, he's verging on utterly useless as a leadoff

[CubColtPacer]

Soriano's been a pretty good leadoff hitter. Is he an elite leadoff hitter? No. Remember though that Soriano was put at leadoff to maximize his production because that's where he feels most comfortable. So far, his numbers are more in line with his better years where he has hit leadoff rather than his worse years where he did not. So, I still believe Soriano at leadoff is best for the team, even though his skill set would naturally slide him in the middle of the order.

[Mephistopheles]

Alfonso Soriano's lack of walks has not made him a bad leadoff hitter yet or ever. Despite not walking he does make up for some of it with his power. Also, this year despite not walking his OBP is .359 and that's top ten in baseball among leadoff hitters. His OPS is 6th and will be top two or three when the season is over. The fact that he's aggressive doesn't mean he's a bad leadoff hitter. It's a shortcoming of his and it's something he makes up with power. There's a tradeoff. You can have a lackluster OBP if you're slugging 550 and you can have a lackluster walk rate if you're hitting .310.

[RegulusBlue]

He's not a leadoff hitter, and he won't be as he ages.

 

Why not put him at 5th?

 

Good god, play Murton or Theriot first and the other 2nd. Or DeRosa can do it as well.

 

Sorry, I had a crazy idea that Lou would use rational baseball thought for a moment.

 

My bad. :pig:

[Mephistopheles]

unfortunately your idea isnt rational.

[Banedon]

unfortunately your idea isnt rational.

 

Care to explain why?

[RichHillIsABeast]

OBP is good b/c it helps you generate runs, but it's not the only way to generate runs. Soriano generates runs differently than your stereotypical leadoff hitter.

[TB_11]

He should not be batting leadoff.

 

No doubt, but the question wasn't whether or not he should be hitting leadoff, but whether or not he's been a good leadoff hitter so far.

[Rusch33]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

[macuser2]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

 

+1

[C.C.]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

 

trust me you'd hear zero bitching if we went undefeated. We bitch because they stink.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

 

We're not undefeated, and have lost three straight, and currently sit 2 games under .500 and eight back in the division. I think that's cause for criticism.

[RegulusBlue]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

 

We've actually lost more games than we've won, dude.

 

OBP is good b/c it helps you generate runs, but it's not the only way to generate runs. Soriano generates runs differently than your stereotypical leadoff hitter.

 

Incorrect. Not one run in the history of baseball has ever been scored without a hitter reaching base safely. It makes absolutely no sense to bat low OBP guys in front of the best offensive player in the NL. Remember when Lee had the best season in the MLB and still had crap RBI numbers? Batting Soriano there will cause that same thing to happen.

 

unfortunately your idea isnt rational.

 

And you have no reason for this.

[Keener98]

Are you guys ever happy?

 

We could go undefeated and someone would still bitch about the lineup.

 

Did I miss something, cause last I seen, this teams not very good, thats probably why there is bitching.

[DiamondMind]

Soriano has reached base in every single one of the 28 games he has appeared in.

 

I call that a decent enough lead off hitter.

[Sarcastic]

Soriano has reached base in every single one of the 28 games he has appeared in.

 

I call that a decent enough lead off hitter.

 

That is an example of how his hits and walks were spread out, not of how often he actually reached base. I'd say he is getting on base at a decent rate right now. He isn't the prototypical leadoff hitter, but he is doing fine there, since his OBP is decent, regardless of his walk rate.

[DiamondMind]

Soriano has reached base in every single one of the 28 games he has appeared in.

 

I call that a decent enough lead off hitter.

 

That is an example of how his hits and walks were spread out, not of how often he actually reached base. I'd say he is getting on base at a decent rate right now. He isn't the prototypical leadoff hitter, but he is doing fine there, since his OBP is decent, regardless of his walk rate.

 

Oh, Im not debating the fact that he's...unconvential as a lead off man. I'm saying that not everything has to be about freakin walks all the time!! His OBP is better than average, he has a 20 game hit streak, and he's reached base in 28/28 of his games. What else do you people want!?

[C.C.]

Soriano is the least of our problems. Our Pen and offense just flat out stinks.

[Warpticon]

Incorrect. Not one run in the history of baseball has ever been scored without a hitter reaching base safely. It makes absolutely no sense to bat low OBP guys in front of the best offensive player in the NL. Remember when Lee had the best season in the MLB and still had crap RBI numbers? Batting Soriano there will cause that same thing to happen.

 

No.

[Mephistopheles]

unfortunately your idea isnt rational.

 

Care to explain why?

because theriot, murton and derosa arent nearly as good as soriano

[davearm]

It seems worthwhile to point out that Soriano has been more effective than any other leadoff hitter with a similar, .360-ish OBP.

 

Better to go .360 OBP with 5 walks than .360 OBP with 25 walks. The first guy's got 20 more hits, and despite the rallying cry, a walk is not as good as a hit.

[DiamondMind]

It seems worthwhile to point out that Soriano has been more effective than any other leadoff hitter with a similar, .360-ish OBP.

 

Better to go .360 OBP with 5 walks than .360 OBP with 25 walks. The first guy's got 20 more hits, and despite the rallying cry, a walk is not as good as a hit.

 

I agree. And as I type this, Soriano takes a walk, to make it all 29 games now that he's reached base in.

[YearofDaCubs]

It seems worthwhile to point out that Soriano has been more effective than any other leadoff hitter with a similar, .360-ish OBP.

 

Better to go .360 OBP with 5 walks than .360 OBP with 25 walks. The first guy's got 20 more hits, and despite the rallying cry, a walk is not as good as a hit.

 

I agree. And as I type this, Soriano takes a walk, to make it all 29 games now that he's reached base in.

Did he reach base on April 10th? I see no BBs or hits.