Hill to catch more often

[Banedon]

But one thing Piniella said he will do is sit Soto for at least one game, and possibly longer.

 

Soto is hitting .119 after an 0-for-3 performance, and the five steals by the D'backs added to his misery.

 

"Am I surprised? No, the reports had that- that they're running," Piniella said. "And they ran some tonight. We'll have to do something about it (Tuesday)."

 

How much of it was on Soto, and how much was on Ted Lilly's failure to hold runners?

 

"It was probably a combination," Piniella said. "But I'm going to start catching (Koyie) Hill a little bit. Geo is struggling with the bat, too. I'm going to see if I can give Hill a little chance to play and give Soto a little chance to work on things, with the bat especially."

 

Soto said he doesn't need a break, and seemed surprised to hear Piniella would sit him.

 

"Now I know, but I'm ready," he said. "But he's the manager. He puts thed nine (men) out there. he makes the decision, so I'm OK with whatever he does."

 

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/04/piniella-on-cubs-loss-defense-what-defense.html

[soapy]

Doesn't Lilly have a history of allowing SBs? I may be mistaken on that.

 

Regardless of Soto's struggles with the bat early, I don't think more K. Hill is the remedy for a team having trouble scoring runs. I hope/assume this is just one of Lou's post-game over reactions that will last about a day or two.

[Banedon]

Doesn't Lilly have a history of allowing SBs? I may be mistaken on that.

 

Regardless of Soto's struggles with the bat early, I don't think more K. Hill is the remedy for a team having trouble scoring runs. I hope/assume this is just one of Lou's post-game over reactions that will last about a day or two.

 

Yeah, I think Lou knows that he needs Soto. And Soto's not been a bad defender.

[Guest]

This team has been horrible for the last week. Unwatchable. That includes management.

[soapy]

Lou wants to do something to shake things up and really Hill is his only option. I assume (hope) Hendry is frantically trying to find an adequate backup 3B, but they don't really have anyone to turn to at their disposal.

[Sammy Sofa]

I support this in a roundabout way in that I think a DL stint might be good for Soto. He's already had the hsoulder issue, plus it's looked like at times again this year like his hand is aggravating him again on certain swings and it looks like he's put weight back on.

 

If he can play through it, great. If not, it seems like there's a few things that need to be checked out or dealt with.

[jersey cubs fan]

I support this in a roundabout way in that I think a DL stint might be good for Soto. He's already had the hsoulder issue, plus it's looked like at times again this year like his hand is aggravating him again on certain swings and it looks like he's put weight back on.

 

If he can play through it, great. If not, it seems like there's a few things that need to be checked out or dealt with.

 

I agree, he looks fatter than I remember ever seeing him.

[C.C.]

His ass is huge. He needs to take some time off to heal wounds and lose weight.

[fromthestretch]

Doesn't Lilly have a history of allowing SBs? I may be mistaken on that.

 

Base runners have swiped 116 bases in 146 attempts (79.5%) against Lilly in his career.

[hardcorecubfan]

Lilly and Maddox came from the same school, concentrate on the hitter and everything else will take care of itself

[Roast]

Lilly and Maddox came from the same school, concentrate on the hitter and everything else will take care of itself

Except Maddux was a lot better at it then lilly.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Lilly and Maddox came from the same school, concentrate on the hitter and everything else will take care of itself

Except Maddux was a lot better at it then lilly.

 

Maddux was a lot better at everything than most pitchers.

[Banedon]

Lilly and Maddox came from the same school, concentrate on the hitter and everything else will take care of itself

Except Maddux was a lot better at it then lilly.

 

Maddux was a lot better at everything than most pitchers.

 

Except holding runners.

[Backtobanks]

Doesn't Lilly have a history of allowing SBs? I may be mistaken on that.

 

Regardless of Soto's struggles with the bat early, I don't think more K. Hill is the remedy for a team having trouble scoring runs. I hope/assume this is just one of Lou's post-game over reactions that will last about a day or two.

 

I'm a big Soto fan, but Soto has been brutal this year. As others have pointed out, he looks like he's hurting. With all of the other injuries, playing Hill instead of Soto is about the only move that Lou can make.

[CubbieBum]

I take this as one of Lou's ploys to motivate Soto. Soto is in a slump and threatening his playing time is the way Lou is choosing to try and snap him out of it.

[KaiserCesar]

Soto probably needs a good deal of pressure relieved. Not only are there extremely high expectations that he isn't living up to at the moment, but with almost no production coming from the big hitters, it has to be mounting even more. It definitely seems like he is hurting, and a few days off while K. Hill is playing well is not a bad idea at all.

[Tyrant]

GEOVANY SOTO.

 

I suppose now is not the time.

[Abe Frohman]

The stolen bases I saw last night in the game were on Lilly. There was no way that Soto had a chance to throw the runners out.

[wvcbxl]

Well Hill certainly made his point yesterday.

[Derwood]

Last thing we need is for Geo to find his way into Lou's doghouse. At this point, I expect Hill to start at least 2 games per week.

[Tyrant]

Last thing we need is for Geo to find his way into Lou's doghouse.

 

Maybe Lou's doghouse only has healthy foods, so Geo can drop 15 pounds.

[Irishoshea21]

I received the best birthday surprise ever this morning. My girlfriend left me a...

 

KOYIE HILL CAKE!!

 

http://twitpic.com/4aa0l