Soriano = better version of Randall Simon

[Jehrico]

Watching Soriano hit yesterday reminded me of Randall Simon. Simon was a bad-ball hitter. He would swing at anything, and was good at making some kind of contact. Randall could foul off a pitch-out like no one else. Unfortunately, he rarely made THAT good of contact because he wouldn't ever wait for a good pitch to hit. Soriano has been swinging at everything, no matter how far off of the plate the ball might be. I'm not saying he's as bad as Simon (not even close), but his approach right now is reminding me distincly of Simon. Can someone tell him he doesn't have to swing at 90% of the pitches he sees? You'd swear he played for Dusty at some point if you didn't know any better.

[Sammy Sofa]

Are you sure you came to this conclusion when you were watching yesterday's game? The one where he was continually taking the first two strikes before finally swinging?

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, but it seems odd to preface this revelation with a game where he wasn't actually "swinging at everything."

[BigbadB]

What I find odd is that opposing pitchers are challenging Soriano with fastballs in the strike zone as if they know he isn't in full season swing yet. The damage Soriano can do to a fastball in the strike zone is still real. Hopefully, this starts happening sooner rather than later.

 

Keep challenging him with good pitches, boys.

[Jehrico]

Are you sure you came to this conclusion when you were watching yesterday's game? The one where he was continually taking the first two strikes before finally swinging?

I was thinking this primarily when he struck out on a low and away pitch early in the game. He was down 0-2, and I sat there thinking that the next pitch was going to be way low and away. That's exactly what happened, and he swung, missing badly. That was after missing a similar pitch on the 0-1 count right before that. He did take a couple yesterday, but he wasn't taking consistantly. His second at bat against Wellemeyer (the one I described above) seems to be more the norm every time I watch him. He's swinging at way too many bad pitches, even when they're predictable.

[UMFan83]

Simon struck out in roughly 9% of his ABs during his entire career.

Soriano has struck out in roughly 22% of his ABs during his entire career.

 

I think a better Simon comparison would be Vlad (obviously despite the huge talent gap). Vlad is a bad ball hitter but strikes out only 12% of the time.

[jersey cubs fan]

Are you sure you came to this conclusion when you were watching yesterday's game? The one where he was continually taking the first two strikes before finally swinging?

I was thinking this primarily when he struck out on a low and away pitch early in the game. He was down 0-2, and I sat there thinking that the next pitch was going to be way low and away. That's exactly what happened, and he swung, missing badly. He did take a couple yesterday, but his second at bat against Wellemeyer seems to be more the norm every time I watch him. He's swinging at way too many bad pitches, even when they're predictable.

 

But that's always been the case with Soriano. He's like Sosa before he decided to take a few pitches. Simon was actually difficult to strike out because he made contact with those bad pitches. Soriano does not.

[Jehrico]

What I find odd is that opposing pitchers are challenging Soriano with fastballs in the strike zone as if they know he isn't in full season swing yet. The damage Soriano can do to a fastball in the strike zone is still real. Hopefully, this starts happening sooner rather than later.

 

Keep challenging him with good pitches, boys.

Hopefully. I don't doubt he'll come around, but he is very frustrating to watch right now.

[waffle]

I disagree. Soriano does not appear to be able to adjust readily if the pitch is not what he is expecting. ALSO, at this time he does not seem to be guessing right all that often. I am fairly confident he'll come around, but boy is he painful to watch right now, at the plate and more specifically in the field.

[BigbadB]

What I find odd is that opposing pitchers are challenging Soriano with fastballs in the strike zone as if they know he isn't in full season swing yet. The damage Soriano can do to a fastball in the strike zone is still real. Hopefully, this starts happening sooner rather than later.

 

Keep challenging him with good pitches, boys.

Hopefully. I don't doubt he'll come around, but he is very frustrating to watch right now.

 

I certainly can't argue with that. But, at least he appears to be frustrated as well, and hopefully that leads to something good resulting from it.

[Tyrant]

I enjoyed the Randall Simon Experience here in Chicago.

[Jehrico]

I enjoyed the Randall Simon Experience here in Chicago.

I did too. I don't know why, but it was fun watching Simon flail at pitches over his head and three feet off of the plate and somehow manage to put them in play.

[chuckywang]

Randall Simon was nothing like Soriano. Simon rarely struck out.

[Jehrico]

Randall Simon was nothing like Soriano. Simon rarely struck out.

Got me on that one.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

[chuckywang]

Randall Simon was nothing like Soriano. Simon rarely struck out.

Got me on that one.

 

Oh yeah, Simon also smacks sausages.

[Derwood]

i was waiting for someone to finally make a Soriano thread this year. whew, wait over

[Jehrico]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

[Jehrico]

i was waiting for someone to finally make a Soriano thread this year. whew, wait over

Admit it, you were really waiting for a Simon thread, not a Soriano thread.

[RegulusBlue]

What I find odd is that opposing pitchers are challenging Soriano with fastballs in the strike zone as if they know he isn't in full season swing yet. The damage Soriano can do to a fastball in the strike zone is still real. Hopefully, this starts happening sooner rather than later.

 

Keep challenging him with good pitches, boys.

Hopefully. I don't doubt he'll come around, but he is very frustrating to watch right now.

 

I certainly can't argue with that. But, at least he appears to be frustrated as well, and hopefully that leads to something good resulting from it.

 

All it takes is for his young player skills to taper even a bit, and we'll have a 138 million dollar mistake on our hands. He completely lacks any semblance of discipline at the plate, so we're in trouble if age begins playing a role this early in his deal. He shows no ability to adjust, and his refusal to bat lower than first shows that he has no desire.

 

I fear this signing more than ever, and I hated it even one year ago.

[UMFan83]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

 

Well yeah but they are both big, black lefthanders so..

[Roast]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

 

Well yeah but they are both big, black lefthanders so..

$%^&* beat me to it.

[jersey cubs fan]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

 

Well yeah but they are both big, black lefthanders so..

 

Randall is from the Caribbean so he can't be black.

[Jehrico]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

 

Well yeah but they are both big, black lefthanders so..

 

Randall is from the Caribbean so he can't be African American.

fixed

[Roast]

Randall Simon=Daryle Ward.

Simon swung at everything, Ward doesn't swing at hardly anything. Polar opposites.

 

Well yeah but they are both big, black lefthanders so..

 

Randall is from the Caribbean so he can't be black.

I loved his accent. It was hilarious.

[DivineBovine]

As others have pointed out, Simon rarely K'ed. A better comparison on this team is Aramis, who can hit bad balls and not K too often. If Simon had Fukudome's eye, he would have hit like 400 and have been a hall of famer. Too bad that getting a clue about the strike zone is one of the hardest traits to acquire in baseball.

 

Soriano is looking more like Patterson at this point. Unfortunately, he seems to take a lot of strikes lately, and then flail at a lot of balls. I hope it stops soon.