What will it take to get Soriano out of the leadoff spot?

[jersey cubs fan]

He said the challenge the Cubs face in the offseason is to get faster and more versatile in other spots in the order.

 

Lou is wrong.

 

Very very very wrong.

[Sammy Sofa]

He said the challenge the Cubs face in the offseason is to get faster and more versatile in other spots in the order.

 

Awful.

[Guest]

more versatile? What the heck does that even mean?

[E.J.]

more versatile? What the heck does that even mean?

 

i think he means we need more 2b who can play other positions.

[KenCub]

more versatile? What the heck does that even mean?

 

I could be way off, but the way I took that comment was that he wants guys who offer more than one thing. Not just a speed guy, not just a power guy, but a guy who can bring more than one aspect of the offensive game.

 

And of course, those guys grow on trees, are as cheap as they come, and no other team would want someone like that.

[CubColtPacer]

 

I love the game, and I am down with small ball, especially when a team has to manufacture a run. It is beautiful to me when a team works together to manufacture a run. Sometimes, it takes sacrifice. I am a big fan of Ryan Theriot for a few reasons, mainly because he plays the game the right way. His slumps were unbearable, but even then he executed in tight situations and wasn't ever really an easy out.

 

He wasn't ever an easy out? The only position players who averaged less pitches per plate appearance than Theriot were either demoted or traded (Izturis, Moore, Fox). Everybody else saw more pitches than Theriot.

 

Theriot made an out 67 times on the first pitch. 67 times! The only other Cub above 50 is Aramis Ramirez with 57 times.

 

On the second pitch, Theriot made an out 69 times. That's good for 2nd on the team behind Soriano (77 times).

 

On the third pitch, Theriot made an out 90 times. That's good for 2nd on the team again behind Soriano (94 times)

 

Theriot has made the most outs on the first 3 pitches on the team (19 more outs overall than 2nd place Soriano). Soriano also had 42 more overall at-bats then Theriot, so Theriot had a much higher out percentage on the first 3 pitches.

 

The leader in making outs early in the count should never be a non-power hitter, and Theriot is way in front in that category. A non-power hitter should also never see the least number of pitches on the team. He certainly isn't what you described when you said that he was never an easy out.

 

 

Good job with the work on this CCP. I have a question that maybe you could answer. Did this get worse as the season progressed? It seemed early in the year he was doing a good job of working counts. Was I just thinking this compared to Cedeno and Izturius or was it true. After his little hot spell in Aug he really looked like a first pitch hacker the rest of the year.

 

Sorry I didn't see this until now. I can sort through the pitches per plate appearance numbers, but not the outs without exhaustive research. Here are these:

 

P/PA by month:

 

April: 3.39

May: 3.99

June: 3.48

July: 3.59

August: 3.44

September: 3.30

[Sweet Swinging Billy]

What will it take? Money.

[abuck1220]

i thought we were done with the "speed and versatility" days.

[imb]

I think it's time we realized that most managers are dumb

[Ding Dong Johnson]

ARod is versatile, Pie has speed

[NewUserName]

 

I love the game, and I am down with small ball, especially when a team has to manufacture a run. It is beautiful to me when a team works together to manufacture a run. Sometimes, it takes sacrifice. I am a big fan of Ryan Theriot for a few reasons, mainly because he plays the game the right way. His slumps were unbearable, but even then he executed in tight situations and wasn't ever really an easy out.

 

He wasn't ever an easy out? The only position players who averaged less pitches per plate appearance than Theriot were either demoted or traded (Izturis, Moore, Fox). Everybody else saw more pitches than Theriot.

 

Theriot made an out 67 times on the first pitch. 67 times! The only other Cub above 50 is Aramis Ramirez with 57 times.

 

On the second pitch, Theriot made an out 69 times. That's good for 2nd on the team behind Soriano (77 times).

 

On the third pitch, Theriot made an out 90 times. That's good for 2nd on the team again behind Soriano (94 times)

 

Theriot has made the most outs on the first 3 pitches on the team (19 more outs overall than 2nd place Soriano). Soriano also had 42 more overall at-bats then Theriot, so Theriot had a much higher out percentage on the first 3 pitches.

 

The leader in making outs early in the count should never be a non-power hitter, and Theriot is way in front in that category. A non-power hitter should also never see the least number of pitches on the team. He certainly isn't what you described when you said that he was never an easy out.

 

 

Good job with the work on this CCP. I have a question that maybe you could answer. Did this get worse as the season progressed? It seemed early in the year he was doing a good job of working counts. Was I just thinking this compared to Cedeno and Izturius or was it true. After his little hot spell in Aug he really looked like a first pitch hacker the rest of the year.

 

Sorry I didn't see this until now. I can sort through the pitches per plate appearance numbers, but not the outs without exhaustive research. Here are these:

 

P/PA by month:

 

April: 3.39

May: 3.99

June: 3.48

July: 3.59

August: 3.44

September: 3.30

 

 

Thanks. Yes just about what I was thinking.

[Guest]

I think it's time we realized that most managers are dumb

 

Speak for yourself - I realized that a LONG time ago.

[frostwyrm]

If Soriano has a monster month (1.000 OPS or better) and puts up only 10 RBI's then Lou will starting questioning himself. You'd think last June would have done it. Soriano had a 1.076 OPS and a measly 18 RBI on the month. 11 of the RBI's were Soriano driving himself in with a home run, so he only drove in 7 baserunners.

[erik316wttn]

If Soriano has a monster month (1.000 OPS or better) and puts up only 10 RBI's then Lou will starting questioning himself. You'd think last June would have done it. Soriano had a 1.076 OPS and a measly 18 RBI on the month. 11 of the RBI's were Soriano driving himself in with a home run, so he only drove in 7 baserunners.

 

But if Lou didn't move him out permanently then, what makes you think he will if Soriano does it again?

[frostwyrm]

If Soriano has a monster month (1.000 OPS or better) and puts up only 10 RBI's then Lou will starting questioning himself. You'd think last June would have done it. Soriano had a 1.076 OPS and a measly 18 RBI on the month. 11 of the RBI's were Soriano driving himself in with a home run, so he only drove in 7 baserunners.

 

But if Lou didn't move him out permanently then, what makes you think he will if Soriano does it again?

 

18 RBI wasn't embarrassing enough. It has to be 10 or less.