So what? So Taguchi
With it looking like Sam Fuld will need about a week for his strained right thumb to heal, the Cubs selected the contract of veteran outfielder So Taguchi from Iowa. Iowa's season is done, and the Cubs caught up with Taguchi at his home near St. Louis. He'll wear uniform No. 99, last made famous by Todd Hundley.
The Cubs had toyed with the idea of bringing up either Tyler Colvin or James Adduci from Class AA Tennessee, but they decided to let the two kids keep playing in the Southern League championship series, which Jacksonville leads 1-0. Colvin, the Cubs' No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft, will be added to the 40-man roster this fall.
Lineup
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Soto, C
Bradley, RF
Fontenot, 2B
Scales, LF
Harden, P
Bradley is 1-for-17 on the homestand, and his left-handed swing looks bad again. Fukudome is 0-for17 on the homestand and 0-for-his-last-18. Fontenot plays ahead of Jeff Baker, who is 2-for-14 on the homestand. Bradley's season hitting line is .257/.378/.398 for an OPS of .776.
D-Lee is leading the majors in homers (22), RBI (62) and OPS (1.115) since July 1. He has an eight-game hitting streak, during which he's 14-for-29. He has 9 homers in his last 17 games.
Aramis Ramirez is 10-for-18 on the homestand. Ramirez has a seven-game hitting streak (12-for-27). He's played in 70 games, but he has 56 RBI.
Bruce,
Do you have the lineup for this afternoon's game?
"One day after his season-ending knee surgery, Alfonso Soriano made an appearance in the Cubs' clubhouse, saying he had trouble staying away. "
Rip on the guy for performance all you want but you can't say he doesn't care and doesn't want to be around. I think this is an encouraging sign that he's going to work hard again this offseason and have a better season next year.
constructive criticism
it wasn't major reconstruction of the knee. this was considered routine scooping, cleaning it out. most players go back to their team after any surgery and faster after minor surgery. i believe Lilly had a similar cleaning on his knee plus some kind of shoulder work early this year and came back to pitch in about 3-4-5 weeks.
it wasn't so much his bad year that some fans ripped him for, it was more his (any player) lack of effort, playing hard, giving 100%. working hard "again" will show on the field. will he work on his fielding, catching fly balls, running out ground/fly balls, etc? I'm sure Cub fans would love to see him hit 60 HR's next year, but seeing is believing............
if Bradley hit 60 HR's the fans would love him. if Z won 25 games the fans would build him a statue. if Soriano hit 60 i'm sure fans would forgive his short comings.......... it's when he hit 20 with his bad D, lack of effort that got to fans.
that's how i see it.
There were a lot of one sentence, "Soriano sucks" chants going on around here a few weeks ago. I'm not sure that's constructive criticism. I haven't seen any fans out at the ballpark working on his leadoff's from first base or running sprints in the offseason, either. Maybe you guys are writing letters and I'm missing it.
As I've had the same operation on the same knee for the same sport I feel confident in saying that his knee gave him a lot of issues in all of the areas that you listed. Now, has he always run out ground balls hard and played wonderful D? No. If you thought that was going to happen before he signed here then your expectations were skewed based on his history. Will he work hard? I think he has and he will continue to do so.
The guy cares, he puts the effort in and he's seems to be willing to put up with the junk from the fans. Outside of this season I would say that the contract he signed has been worth it. Will it be in two years? History of baseball tells us probably not but I like the fact that he can't stay away from the clubhouse. He wants to play, now he needs to put in the work to put together a good season next year.
i respect your opinon. have a great day.
So?
He took a called third strike--
Why? He was not facing Cubs pitching (See Mitch Webster)!
...See Jeff Blauser.
why some one should talk to him.......stay on him......as a pro he should take it on himself to be the best he can be, he should ask guys like Molina, Blanco, Martin, etc for tips, anything to improve his game.....is this guy Sinatra an ex catcher? he's the guy who works with Soto.....
Dr. Phil
Maybe Soto misses Hank White's presence more than anyone expected. There is no mistaking that Koyie Hill has done a great job behind the plate and has came up with a few big hits, but I’m not sure if he has been a mentor to Soto the way Blanco was last year. Last year it was rare to look into the dugout and not see Blanco chatting it up with Geo or another younger player about what seemed to be baseball based on the hand gestures.
Hopefully Geo will reach out to Blanco this offseason to work on some things together and have Henry critique his performance this season.
Did the Cubs even offer Blanco a contract? I don’t think they did and I believe he was somewhat shocked by that. The Padres signed him for $750k. I know he’s right-handed and Koyie is a switch hitter (and Paul Bako was a left), but none of them are potent bats in the line-up.
Then Soto is useless as a major league baseball player.
Are they supposed to keep a caddy for 10 years?
Geo's a big boy. He should be able to take care of things himself. That said, Koyie Hill was a big help to him in Iowa in 2007. For some odd reason, though, the Cubs have the two catchers lockered at opposite ends of the clubhouse, whereas Blanco and Soto lockered near each other. I'd like to see them moved next to each other so they can talk a little ball as they're preparing for games. Guys tend to hang near their lockers when they're not working out or taking BP. It's a little thing, but it couldn't hurt.
What do you think of Mike Imrem's suggestion to move Zambrano's between Lilly and Dempster?
From my fan perspective, the Cubs seem to let "boys be boys" a bit too much...maybe hanging around those two would have a positive effect. Holding him accountable wouldn't hurt (Piniella's quotes about why Zambrano was picked to start opening day were telling.)
It also would get Z away from the front door, where reporters and everybody else come in. In spring training, most guys are grouped together by position.
that win games. these are things you learn coming up. yes the Cubs have to stay on this guy for the good of everyone. with the really good/great ones it comes natural, maybe he just had a lapse with how this season has gone, but that's no excuse......maybe BB should give him a friendly hint, you know, catcher to catcher.........
It seems Geo has a lot of maturing to do on the mental side of his game. Brenly has called Geo out a few times this year for using his mask to stop a ball at home that was just rolling away and could have easily been picked up using his glove or hands.
The pitchers also seem more comfortable with Hill behind the plate based solely on their records. He also had a lapse in judgment when he forgot there was a force at home and went down to tag Ryan Braun instead of possibly throwing to first for a double play.
During a lot of his at bats this year he has been swinging for the fences when the wind has been howling in instead of just trying to drive the ball and the same when the wind is blowing out instead of just hitting it high and watching it fly. Maybe he's trying to pull a Glenallen Hill and put one up on a rooftop.
He had a great end of 2007 and a great first half of 2008 then just an average rest of the season. Do you think he'll come back ready to play and more focused next season or could this become a growing concern?
Your observations are right on. The Cubs don't seem overly concerned right now. But Soto is a player who needs to be kept after all the time.
Because I don't see it getting better without him being pushed.
There were three things tonight: He went with a tag play when a force would do; he picked up a ball with his mask, and Lou said he didn't know the rule; and he didn't get back to the backstop on a popup.
But they don't seem to be when players don't know the fundamentals.
Why on earth do so many players come through the Cub system and not know the rules, or M.I. who can't make tag plays/use proper footwork, run the bases, etc.?
The Cubs have certainly had more than their share of flops off the "can't miss" pile. Plate discipline and a lack of solid fundamentals seem to be the norm.