Re: Soriano's defense

[Clem Fandango]

LOL@ the Brewers announcers criticizing someone's defense when they have Braun patrolling left field. The guy makes Soriano look like a gold glover out there.

Not really.

 

http://www.hardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/index.php?view=fielding&linesToDisplay=50&orderBy=zone_rating&direction=DESC&qual_filter=1&season_filter[]=2008&league_filter[]=2&pos_filter[]=7&Submit=Submit

 

 

Link doesn't work, but you could imagine what it would be like if it did.

 

Adam Dunn is 3rd on that list.

 

My dead grandpa can play defense better than Adam Dunn.

 

But Ryan Braun can't

[Cubbie Swagger]

As others have said, while he's not a great defender, it's really his effort that is the problem. On the ball Kendall hit, Soriano didn't even try. He leisurely jogged toward it, and then was too lazy to even make a decent attempt at putting some glove on the ball. After that, he still wasn't showing any sense of urgency, and he proceeded to kick the ball even further away from himself. And of course, during the process of all this, he doesn't even bother to take a single glance at the runner, and takes his sweet time setting himselfand lobbing the ball back in.

 

Not to mention the time he hit a single off the wall because he stood there and watched it, and other such incidents.

[Tracer Bullet]

If he was very good, he'd be in CF. That lasted what, a week in ST?

 

Yes, if we know 1 thing about Lou, it's that he's patient.

[CubColtPacer]

If he was very good, he'd be in CF. That lasted what, a week in ST?

 

Yes, if we know 1 thing about Lou, it's that he's patient.

 

And besides, it wasn't even Soriano's performance that got him moved from CF. He seemed to be doing just fine there and the coaching staff was saying things to that effect (and btw, it lasted into the regular season, not just ST) and then he got hurt diving for a ball in the middle of April, and Lou suddenly decided while he was out for a few games that his bat was too valuable to risk his legs like that so he moved him to LF.

 

So Soriano playing LF has nothing (or very little) to do with him not being able to handle CF and all about Lou's thought process that a corner OF is much less susceptible to injury than a CF.

 

Oh, I forgot the other reason. Soriano had been originally offered to move to left by Lou not because he was struggling with the glove, but because he was slumping at the plate, and Lou thought he might be more comfortable at the plate if he didn't have to concentrate as much on his defense. Soriano had declined but then he got hurt the next day and Lou made the move anyway.

 

Here's Lou's quote on that from the day of the injury:

 

"I told him, 'Look, we'll move you. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to be comfortable at home plate. Take that load off.' He said, 'No, I feel good. I really do.'

 

"I haven't been displeased with his play at all. The only thing I say is we brought him in here to hit, and if center field is causing a problem, we want to eradicate that."

[Guest]

If he was very good, he'd be in CF. That lasted what, a week in ST?

 

Yes, if we know 1 thing about Lou, it's that he's patient.

 

And besides, it wasn't even Soriano's performance that got him moved from CF. He seemed to be doing just fine there and the coaching staff was saying things to that effect (and btw, it lasted into the regular season, not just ST) and then he got hurt diving for a ball in the middle of April, and Lou suddenly decided while he was out for a few games that his bat was too valuable to risk his legs like that so he moved him to LF.

 

So Soriano playing LF has nothing (or very little) to do with him not being able to handle CF and all about Lou's thought process that a corner OF is much less susceptible to injury than a CF.

 

Oh, I forgot the other reason. Soriano had been originally offered to move to left by Lou not because he was struggling with the glove, but because he was slumping at the plate, and Lou thought he might be more comfortable at the plate if he didn't have to concentrate as much on his defense. Soriano had declined but then he got hurt the next day and Lou made the move anyway.

 

Here's Lou's quote on that from the day of the injury:

 

"I told him, 'Look, we'll move you. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to be comfortable at home plate. Take that load off.' He said, 'No, I feel good. I really do.'

 

"I haven't been displeased with his play at all. The only thing I say is we brought him in here to hit, and if center field is causing a problem, we want to eradicate that."

Pardon me, a week into the season. What's Lou going to say? He moved Soriano because he couldn't handle the position and Lou thought it was also causing him trouble at the plate.

 

Anyway, it's not important. Soriano is competent but he isn't good in the field. He routinely boots balls or doesn't cut the ball off because he runs to where the ball is and not where it's going to be. Fortunately for him his arm sometimes makes up for it.

[Tracer Bullet]

If he was very good, he'd be in CF. That lasted what, a week in ST?

 

Yes, if we know 1 thing about Lou, it's that he's patient.

 

And besides, it wasn't even Soriano's performance that got him moved from CF. He seemed to be doing just fine there and the coaching staff was saying things to that effect (and btw, it lasted into the regular season, not just ST) and then he got hurt diving for a ball in the middle of April, and Lou suddenly decided while he was out for a few games that his bat was too valuable to risk his legs like that so he moved him to LF.

 

So Soriano playing LF has nothing (or very little) to do with him not being able to handle CF and all about Lou's thought process that a corner OF is much less susceptible to injury than a CF.

 

Oh, I forgot the other reason. Soriano had been originally offered to move to left by Lou not because he was struggling with the glove, but because he was slumping at the plate, and Lou thought he might be more comfortable at the plate if he didn't have to concentrate as much on his defense. Soriano had declined but then he got hurt the next day and Lou made the move anyway.

 

Here's Lou's quote on that from the day of the injury:

 

"I told him, 'Look, we'll move you. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to be comfortable at home plate. Take that load off.' He said, 'No, I feel good. I really do.'

 

"I haven't been displeased with his play at all. The only thing I say is we brought him in here to hit, and if center field is causing a problem, we want to eradicate that."

Pardon me, a week into the season. What's Lou going to say? He moved Soriano because he couldn't handle the position and Lou thought it was also causing him trouble at the plate.

 

Anyway, it's not important. Soriano is competent but he isn't good in the field. He routinely boots balls or doesn't cut the ball off because he runs to where the ball is and not where it's going to be. Fortunately for him his arm sometimes makes up for it.

 

No, Lou moved Soriano b/c Lou jumps the gun on crap like this all the time. Do you have any evidence at all to support your claim that he was moved b/c he couldn't handle CF? The fact that he was moved from CF doesn't, in and of itself, mean that he couldn't handle the position. You're killing logic.