A few things noticed about Alfonso Soriano....

[Abe Frohman]

Alf is off to a really slow start (2-26 as of April 7th) for the second year in a row - which is kinda strange for him as April/May are his best months during his career (.309/.346/.857). Last year, he was well below his par as well in the first few weeks. Of course, only 7 games have been played, but I have noticed a few things.....

 

* Soriano's stance is different.

* He seems to have closed up a lot. Has anyone else noticed this?

* Plus, his spread is wider.

* Has he always crowded the plate this much?

 

It's easy to see that when Soriano is slumping/struggling, he has a significant amount of head movement during his swing. When he is going strong and hot at the plate, his head stays more fixed/still. I know it is baseball 101, but check it out throughout the season.

[Guest]

Maybe his struggles have him trying to emulate Sammy. His new stance kinda reminds me of Sammy wide/low setup, though Soriano has more bat movement.

[javy knows my name]

He slugs .857 in April in his career? That's fantastic!

 

Or by .857 do you mean .511?

[cubbieinkansas]

Soriano is driving me crazy.

I think he has some serious sammy sosa syndrome.

seems like every pitch no matter what or where it is, hes aiming for waveland.

its ridiculous.

he needs to take some pointers from dlee.

 

Derrek has a great approach. go for hits, hit all over the field, when you see something slam it.

 

another thing is, seems like Felix is trying to be like soriano, notice how similar their at bats are.

i say reed is the starter for now.

[Guest]

He slugs .857 in April in his career? That's fantastic!

 

Or by .857 do you mean .511?

 

.857 would be his OPS. .857-.346= .511.

[Abe Frohman]

He slugs .857 in April in his career? That's fantastic!

 

Or by .857 do you mean .511?

 

Yeah, he slugs .857 in April/May for his career.

 

OPS.

[Abe Frohman]

i say reed is the starter for now.

 

Agreed. Use more Cedeno/Fontenot at SS too, as it seems Theriot is most productive when his back is against the wall. By "most" I mean "somewhat."

[17 Seconds]

He slugs .857 in April in his career? That's fantastic!

 

Or by .857 do you mean .511?

 

Yeah, he slugs .857 in April/May for his career.

 

OPS.

 

It was obvious you meant OPS, but when you do the #/#/# thing it generally is average/obp/slugging.

[cubbieinkansas]

i say reed is the starter for now.

 

Agreed. Use more Cedeno/Fontenot at SS too, as it seems Theriot is most productive when his back is against the wall. By "most" I mean "somewhat."

 

yea its starting to look like a bigger gap then i thought there.....

this team would be so much more solid with roberts.

why dont we throw in one of those 3. and murton and gallager and ceda....

uhhh.

[17 Seconds]

i say reed is the starter for now.

 

Agreed. Use more Cedeno/Fontenot at SS too, as it seems Theriot is most productive when his back is against the wall. By "most" I mean "somewhat."

 

yea its starting to look like a bigger gap then i thought there.....

this team would be so much more solid with roberts.

why dont we throw in one of those 3. and murton and gallager and ceda....

uhhh.

 

You realize that Roberts doesn't play shortstop, right?

[gerby23]

One thing to keep in mind. He did break his finger several weeks ago, and then went from a warm and dry climate to a cold and wet climate. I am in no way giving him a free pass, because even if that is what is ailing him, he should sit himself down for a couple of days. Anyway, just my .02 and I got nothing to back it up other than I just got my splint off my finger and I would not want to be hitting a 90+ fastball right now.

[waffle]

He does seem to be swinging from the heels

He does seem to be late on pitches (like he changes his mind)

His swing sure does not look smooth, like someone who plays the game for a living, more like a kid in a batting cage

I prefer him in the middle of the lineup. I think he tries to hard too be the sparkplug leading off.

[rawaction]

I'm not noticing the difference in his stance. I'm not noticing the difference in his swing. His head is moving too much right now, but it's nothing new when he's struggling and pulling off of the ball. But he's always been a guy that has struggled with a good fastball above the belt and would chase a low and away breaking balls.

[CubinNY]

I'm not noticing the difference in his stance. I'm not noticing the difference in his swing. His head is moving too much right now, but it's nothing new when he's struggling and pulling off of the ball. But he's always been a guy that has struggled with a good fastball above the belt and would chase a low and away breaking balls.

Right, and he's a streaky hitter.

 

I'd like to see the Cubs move Fukudome and DeRosa up in the order.

[TruffleShuffle]

I prefer him in the middle of the lineup. I think he tries to hard too be the sparkplug leading off.

 

his career numbers are far better as a leadoff hitter than batting anywhere else, which would tend to argue against your point.

[javy knows my name]

He slugs .857 in April in his career? That's fantastic!

 

Or by .857 do you mean .511?

 

Yeah, he slugs .857 in April/May for his career.

 

OPS.

 

It was obvious you meant OPS, but when you do the #/#/# thing it generally is average/obp/slugging.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

* Soriano's stance is different.

* He seems to have closed up a lot. Has anyone else noticed this?

* Plus, his spread is wider.

* Has he always crowded the plate this much?

I don't see any differences at all

[NCCubFan]

i say reed is the starter for now.

No; Pie needs regular playing time. He's not going to improve by sitting on the bench or going back to AAA.

[jersey cubs fan]

I prefer him in the middle of the lineup. I think he tries to hard too be the sparkplug leading off.

 

his career numbers are far better as a leadoff hitter than batting anywhere else, which would tend to argue against your point.

 

That really doesn't tell us anything. He's spent most of his career in the leadoff spot. He played his best season from the leadoff spot. But the only year he spent playing the majority at 5, he was better there than leading off. And the year he spent mostly at 3, he had a better OBP there than leadoff, but better power at leadoff.

 

He's been inconsistent throughout his career, both leading off and elsewhere.

[rocket]

when soriano is cold, he's REALLY cold. and when soriano's on fire, he's REALLY on fire. this isn't anything new. he'll be on a hot streak soon enough and his numbers will improve. soriano will be fine...at least in this year of the contract.

[Abe Frohman]

i say reed is the starter for now.

No; Pie needs regular playing time. He's not going to improve by sitting on the bench or going back to AAA.

 

I would never prefer helping a player over helping a team. If the Cubs win with Reed, they should go with Reed. At least until a change is needed.

 

when soriano is cold, he's REALLY cold. and when soriano's on fire, he's REALLY on fire. this isn't anything new. he'll be on a hot streak soon enough and his numbers will improve. soriano will be fine...at least in this year of the contract.

 

I agree - I'm not worried about Soriano's overall production. But is the #1 spot in the order where he belongs right now? I am just really starting to conform to the idea that you may want your best hitters getting the most at bats - and why not have Fukudome bat leadoff? Soriano would definately be protection for the slumping Aramis Ramirez while Fukudome is getting on base more than half the time. I really like the idea of this lineup:

 

RF Fukudome

2B DeRosa

1B Lee

3B Ramirez

LF Soriano

CA Soto

SS Theriot

CF Reed/Pie

Edited April 8, 2008 by Abe Frohman

[jersey cubs fan]

when soriano is cold, he's REALLY cold. and when soriano's on fire, he's REALLY on fire. this isn't anything new. he'll be on a hot streak soon enough and his numbers will improve. soriano will be fine...at least in this year of the contract.

 

Unfortunately, fine isn't good enough.

[rocket]

when soriano is cold, he's REALLY cold. and when soriano's on fire, he's REALLY on fire. this isn't anything new. he'll be on a hot streak soon enough and his numbers will improve. soriano will be fine...at least in this year of the contract.

 

Unfortunately, fine isn't good enough.

 

i agree. but that's the player hendry gave that ridiculous contract to. the best we can hope for is that soriano will be "alfonso soriano good" and hit 30 homers and slug over 500. which i think he can do this year.

[Sammy Sofa]

i say reed is the starter for now.

No; Pie needs regular playing time. He's not going to improve by sitting on the bench or going back to AAA.

 

I would never prefer helping a player over helping a team. If the Cubs win with Reed, they should go with Reed. At least until a change is needed.

 

This is a meaningless statement. It's like saying, "if the Cubs are winning with yellow shoelaces, they should keep wearing yellow shoelaces." Just because they've won some games WITH Johnson in the lineup in no way means they've won BECAUSE of him, and they haven't, and that argument shouldn't be used to yet again bench Pie when he should be playing as much as possible.

[Abe Frohman]

 

I would never prefer helping a player over helping a team. If the Cubs win with Reed, they should go with Reed. At least until a change is needed.

 

This is a meaningless statement. It's like saying, "if the Cubs are winning with yellow shoelaces, they should keep wearing yellow shoelaces." Just because they've won some games WITH Johnson in the lineup in no way means they've won BECAUSE of him, and they haven't, and that argument shouldn't be used to yet again bench Pie when he should be playing as much as possible.

 

What the hell are you talking about? If a guy is producing (Johnson), why should a guy who is not producing (Pie) play? I play the hot hand. Pie will get his AB's and on the job training.