C'mon Lou, Do It Already

[love_that_reefer]

Lou Piniella has been talking about moving Alfonso Soriano down in the lineup. Well what the hell has he waiting for? Soriano is an ideal #5 hitter with his combination of speed and power who has been wasted at the leadoff spot. In two seasons with the Cubs, he has yet to surpass 80 RBI and 100 Runs. That is wasting talent if I ever saw it. Sure he has missed time but think of the runs he could drive in and score being surrounded by the likes of Lee and Ramirez. Soriano should be moved into the middle of the lineup especially as he gets older. Soriano is 33 this year and his stolen bases have gone down since joining the Cubs. Part of that can be contributed to a calf injury last year but nonetheless, his base stealing days are numbered.

The Cubs do face a problem with moving Soriano into the middle of the order, too many righties. If Soriano was moved out of the leadoff spot, Ryan Theriot and his career .362 OBP would most likely fill the void. After that would probably be Fukudome or Mike Fontenot because they both have speed and are lefties. After that it where it gets tricky. Do you bat Lee, Ramirez, Soriano and then the switch hitter Bradley or do you bat Lee, Ramirez, Bradley and Soriano? Either way I think the Cubs will score a lot more runs than the two previous years with Soriano batting leadoff but it does pose a question. That would mostly depend on the opposing pitcher on the given day. The Cubs are a heavy right handed team so they will have to mix the lineup around. Here would be my ideal Cubs lineup (with only two lefties):

1. Theriot
2. Fukudome
3. Lee
4. Ramirez
5. Soriano
6. Bradley
7. Soto
8. Fontenot

I know some of you will say that Soriano has fared better in the leadoff spot than any other slot in the batting order. This is very true but thinks of how well he could do surrounded by the likes of Ramirez and Bradley. Think of how much better it will help guys like Ramirez and Bradley with Soriano hitting in between them. Scary thought isn't it. Instead of Lou dicking around and just talking about it, he should flat out say Soriano will start the spring as the team's #5 or 6 hitter. That way it gives Soriano time to make the necessary adjustments and get used to the role. No use blabbing this info to the media if you aren't going to do anything about it. You never know Lou, this just might get you past the first round of the playoffs.

[rockin500]

i would switch soriano and bradley around. break up the streak of righties. otherwise your lineup is pretty good.

[love_that_reefer]

Manager Lou Piniella backed off the idea of moving Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff spot in a conversation with reporters Thursday.
"What I said was basically we’re going to take a look at it and see how it’s working," Piniella said. "But I also said that if we were opening the season in Houston tomorrow he would be our leadoff guy. I’m comfortable with him there." Soriano has a .340 on-base percentage in his two years with the Cubs.

Way to be a pussy Lou The Cubs will struggle to win 90 games this season.

[Saber]

Why shouldn't Soriano bat second?

[bcshorts]

One of the biggest obstacles is probably Soriano himself. I believe I have read that he feels comfortable hitting first and wants to continue there. He would do whatever is best for the team, etc., etc., but it could be possible that he would play worse hitting in the five hole.

But it kind of makes sense for him to not bat leadoff, even though Theriot doesn't strike me as the kind of guy I'd want batting first. Not sure why, because everything I look at numbers wise points to him being a great leadoff guy. Good average, .387 on base percentage, some speed... So I probably just have a bad read on him in my mind.

Fukudome at second is probably a good spot if he can improve his average a bit. His on base percentage last year was .359 even though he hit only .257. If he can get that average up around .280, that's a great guy to have in front of the big guns.

[love_that_reefer]

Soriano might do worse hitting fifth but no one will know until they try. Soriano has had leg injuries the past two years so he is not as fast as he once was. Putting him in the five hole around good hitters would make him see better pitches or at least the ones around him better pitches. That would generate more runs. The Cubs aren't going to be as good as they were last year so they need to utilize their lineup.

Theriot has more speed than Soriano at this point in their careers so I say move him up and Soriano down.

Fukudome has one year under his belt so I think he can make adjustments to the US way of playing. That is if Lou lets him get out of his doghouse.