Soriano hotter than all get out

[rockin500]

dude has been raking all week long. 4 homers in two games. 7 in the last 6 days.

[brewersfan19]

yes he is.

[redsrbetter]

I'll tell you what, all the argument about whether he should be a leadoff guy is making its case now. Imagine if all those leadoff HRs were with him in the middle of the order and having runners on base.

Yes Soriano is hot right now. Great news Cubs!

[rockin500]

I'll tell you what, all the argument about whether he should be a leadoff guy is making its case now. Imagine if all those leadoff HRs were with him in the middle of the order and having runners on base.

Yes Soriano is hot right now. Great news Cubs!

actually, i like the leadoff homers. nothing demoralizes a pitcher more than that. besides, he has had a few three run homers, and two run singles in his hot streak. so he is only coming up first the first time. remember, his number nine hitters arent exactly slouches (zambrano, marquis and dempster can all hit it), and neither is 8 hitter reed johnson.

leave him there.

[BronxBomberz]

Yankees would've loved to need him so far

[Kingdom]

Love to need? Interesting.



Here's the dilemma with Soriano. He strikes out a lot, walks infrequently but is a great hitter so you think he'd be great in the middle of the lineup. 4th, 5th? But then again, Soriano loves hitting leadoff and has had great seasons as a leadoff man.

My only thing, wouldn't it be worth a shot to switch Soriano and Fukudome around? Fukudome hasn't shown really good power yet and takes a bazillion pitches and does have good speed and you throw a mashing Soriano in around Lee and Ramirez, ...bang? Theriot-Fukudome-Lee-Ramirez-Soriano-Soto ...wouldn't that be a scary lineup to pitch to? Knowing 7-9 aren't bad either.

[DMBZeppelin]

Love to need? Interesting.



Here's the dilemma with Soriano. He strikes out a lot, walks infrequently but is a great hitter so you think he'd be great in the middle of the lineup. 4th, 5th? But then again, Soriano loves hitting leadoff and has had great seasons as a leadoff man.

My only thing, wouldn't it be worth a shot to switch Soriano and Fukudome around? Fukudome hasn't shown really good power yet and takes a bazillion pitches and does have good speed and you throw a mashing Soriano in around Lee and Ramirez, ...bang? Theriot-Fukudome-Lee-Ramirez-Soriano-Soto ...wouldn't that be a scary lineup to pitch to? Knowing 7-9 aren't bad either.

Fukudome belongs in the 2 hole, but it's amazing how well a non power hitter has done in the 5 hole. He's an asset anywhere because he gets on base. The problem isn't that Soriano loves hitting lead off. It's that he has that mental mind set he needs to be one. As a result he SUCKS as a middle order bat. His career numbers there back it up.

It's not all mental though, part of that is because Soriano doesn't handle breaking pitches well. You see more fastballs in the lead off spot. Not to mention most pitchers try to throw that first pitch for a strike. Soriano knows that, and golfs a lot of those out there. Hitting 3, 4, 5 wouldn't give him that privilege.

I also think Soriano hitting lead off isn't all Lou's choice. From quotes in the past, I think his hands might be a little tied. For all we know Hendry promised him that, and with his giant contract you have to make him happy. I mean they expanded the warning track this off season by 3 feet just for Soriano (he complains about the brick wall). When is Soto going to move up in the order? With Soriano leading off I think this is the best lineup:

1. Soriano
2. Fukudome
3. Lee
4. Ramirez
5. Soto
6. DeRosa
7. Theriot
8. Johnson/Edmonds