Soriano,so far...

[Shilzzz]

He's not hitting for power, which has frustrated me tremendously. He's on pace for about 16 homers, thirty less than last year. He doesn't deserve $10 Mil a year, let alone $18 Mil.

 

He has hit quite a few "almosts" though. The power will come around eventually, I'm not too worried about. I'm glad he's out of the leadoff spot though, I think that will help boost his numbers and help him out with a little more protection.

 

not too sure why people believe this still. his career numbers prove fairly concretely that soriano is at his best when leading off, with his numbers dropping off significantly in other spots. also, when given his contract, hendry promised him the leadoff spot.

[jjgman21]

He's not hitting for power, which has frustrated me tremendously. He's on pace for about 16 homers, thirty less than last year. He doesn't deserve $10 Mil a year, let alone $18 Mil.

 

He has hit quite a few "almosts" though. The power will come around eventually, I'm not too worried about. I'm glad he's out of the leadoff spot though, I think that will help boost his numbers and help him out with a little more protection.

 

not too sure why people believe this still. his career numbers prove fairly concretely that soriano is at his best when leading off, with his numbers dropping off significantly in other spots. also, when given his contract, hendry promised him the leadoff spot.

 

not sure why I have to keep explaining it.

 

career line before 2006 in the 1 hole was an OPS around 845. career line in the five hole is 836. the only reason his career stats are so good in the one hole as compared to most other places in the lineup is because he had his career year batting in the one hole.

 

its really that simple. it has nothing to do with comfort. and what does "comfortable batting leadoff" mean anyway? he likes having "guys who can handle the bat" hitting after him? he likes following the pitcher/pinch hitters?

 

or perhaps, he gets too juiced up with men on base and has recognized he lacks a certain quality......oh the word for it escapes me right now....when there are alot of runners on base.

[Chocolate Milk]

Soriano is running hot. His recent hot streak has pulled up his numbers quite a bit. Hopefully he can continue to hit homers in every single game for the rest of the season.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

I'd like to see him get that OPS up over 900.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Hopefully he can continue to hit homers in every single game for the rest of the season.

 

I don't see any reason why he couldn't

[TheDude]

He's not hitting for power, which has frustrated me tremendously. He's on pace for about 16 homers, thirty less than last year. He doesn't deserve $10 Mil a year, let alone $18 Mil.

 

He has hit quite a few "almosts" though. The power will come around eventually, I'm not too worried about. I'm glad he's out of the leadoff spot though, I think that will help boost his numbers and help him out with a little more protection.

 

not too sure why people believe this still. his career numbers prove fairly concretely that soriano is at his best when leading off, with his numbers dropping off significantly in other spots. also, when given his contract, hendry promised him the leadoff spot.

 

not sure why I have to keep explaining it.

 

career line before 2006 in the 1 hole was an OPS around 845. career line in the five hole is 836. the only reason his career stats are so good in the one hole as compared to most other places in the lineup is because he had his career year batting in the one hole.

 

its really that simple. it has nothing to do with comfort. and what does "comfortable batting leadoff" mean anyway? he likes having "guys who can handle the bat" hitting after him? he likes following the pitcher/pinch hitters?

 

or perhaps, he gets too juiced up with men on base and has recognized he lacks a certain quality......oh the word for it escapes me right now....when there are alot of runners on base.

 

You probably have to keep explaining it because your numbers are using selective data to warp the situation. Why choose the 'five hole' only to represent moving further down in the lineup?

 

Career OPS by lineup slot:

 

1 - .887

2 - .419

3 - .762

4 - .618

5 - .836

6 - .833

 

It's not even close. Lead-off is far and away better than any other slot, especially the power slots of 3-5 combined.

[gflore34]

He's finally surpassed Slappy in the RBI department 13 - 17 (technically, it was Sunday), only took him 2+ months to do it!!!!!

[cubweiser03]

April, May, Sammy. How bout April, May, Fonzie?

 

June: .579/.579/1.156/1.735 8-)

[A New Era]

I like hot streak fonzo better than no hit fonzo.

[rocket]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

that's good, but not 8 year 130 million good.

[abuck1220]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

that's good, but not 8 year 130 million good.

 

yeah, i'm not so sure that deserves the smiley face with sunglasses. that puts him like 13th among all outfielders in OPS. of course, even with a 1.000 OPS, his contract would still be bad.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

that's good, but not 8 year 130 million good.

 

It's almost guaranteed he won't live up to that contract. Oh well. He is worlds better than any Cubs leadoff man I've ever seen.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

that's good, but not 8 year 130 million good.

 

yeah, i'm not so sure that deserves the smiley face with sunglasses. that puts him like 13th among all outfielders in OPS. of course, even with a 1.000 OPS, his contract would still be bad.

 

I think of his value as a leadoff hitter, not as a LF.

[abuck1220]

Soriano up to .312/.362/.522/.884. 8-)

 

that's good, but not 8 year 130 million good.

 

yeah, i'm not so sure that deserves the smiley face with sunglasses. that puts him like 13th among all outfielders in OPS. of course, even with a 1.000 OPS, his contract would still be bad.

 

I think of his value as a leadoff hitter, not as a LF.

 

good luck with that.

 

think of how awesome he'd be if the cubs bat him eighth!

[Alfonso Soriano]

Alfonso is going to play better don't worry.

Take a look at his game log from last year. He never really got going until middle June.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=soriaal01&t=b&year=2006

 

Also to the mods of this site, It says I am a bench player but in fact I am a starter. It offends me very much to call a man like me a bench player.

 

(Just a joke it doesn't offend me, I know it represents how many posts I have. Don't feel bad)

[Chocolate Milk]

i think soriano hit some taters today

[FloridaCubbie]

i think soriano hit some taters today

I like dem french fried po-taters. mmm hmm.

[soccer10k]

I'm quite disappointed with his game today. Only three home runs? Does he really think that will endear him to the fans? Please, Alfonso. :D

[RichHillIsABeast]

.326/.373/.568/.941 (227 AB)

 

That's more like it, Fonz. :D

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Soriano now tied with Utley for 6th in MLB in OPS. Lee is 7th and Ramirez is 13th.

[Exile on Waveland]

.326/.373/.568/.941 (227 AB)

 

That's more like it, Fonz. :D

 

This is the kind of production the Cubs need out of Soriano to at least somewhat justify his contract. He's obviously going to slip later in his contract (hopefully that comes late in the contract, instead of in the middle), but if he puts up around a .940 OPS for the first couple years the contract is more justifiable. Of course, his OPS is only .940 after a 3 home run game.

[Chocolate Milk]

310/360/566/926 OPS+ 138

 

After a slow start, on pace for 34 homers.

 

So far, so good.

[Soriano12]

It is still possible he could post a career best OPS this season.

[CubColtPacer]

310/360/566/926 OPS+ 138

 

After a slow start, on pace for 34 homers.

 

So far, so good.

 

And add to that defense that seems to be getting better. He looks to be much more comfortable in the field now that his hamstring isn't bothering him as much, and his arm is a great weapon both in throwing runners out and holding runners from taking extra bases (especially runners coming around 3rd-my guess is that at least 4-5 runners have been stranded on third in the past couple months after being held on a single to left field not wanting to test Soriano).