the first Geovany Soto.

... he’d have to start “roiding up” right?

I like Soto’s tools offensively and defensively. I would like him to have at least half a season in the majors before I entertain the notion of his being the next I-Rod. I know I don’t want him to be the next Rick Wilkins, a one-year wonder.

gametime yettttttttt??

Pudge Rodriguez was a high average hitter with only average power and who never walked. He had a rocket arm behind the plate—maybe the best ever. He was an early bloomer too, playing regularly in the majors at age 19.

Soto doesn’t become a major league regular until he’s 24. He hitting for a high average (although that will probably drop some) but he’s a patient hitter who draws a lot of walks and looks like he has tremendous power. Soto will strike out a lot more than Rodriguez. His arm is good but nowhere near what Pudge Rodriguez was early in his career.

He’s the next Pudge Rodriguez if your critera is “Is he the next all-star catcher from Puerto Rico?” But that’s about where the similarities end.

Pudge Rodriquez is the greatest defensive catcher ever to play the game. He’s also logged well in excess of 1,600 games behind home plate. Darn good hitter throughout all those years too. It is patently unfair to label Geovany Soto (or anybody else in the league right now) the next Pudge Rodriquez. The only catcher I have seen who has been remotely in the league of Pudge in his prime defensively is Yadier Molina. And even Molina is not as good defensively behind the plate.

Savor Soto for what he is. Don’t do unfair comparison.

Fukudome is the next Matchiro.

I don’t know how the heck a rookie can be so good at that. Perhaps there’s a bit of Pudge in him, but I tend to think Geo is Geo. He might very well break the current mold of catchers being primarily defensive players. This kid is good.

When did that image change? About them catchers?

If he can be our version of Brian McCann, high avg (for a catcher anyway) and get close to 20-80, id be extremely excited, those are all star numbers for a catcher

and thought about the comparison between he and Geo. Too lazy to look into it, but it is refreshing to see the Cubs have a catcher with this kind of offensive ability. Kind of like Barrett with more power and talent and about everything I suppose.

I am rooting for Bench for Johnny (before many of your times) was the center of the BIG RED MACHINE. Bench started out batting 6th or 7th like Soto, with big hitters like Rose, Morgan, Perez, & Foster. But soon Bench started forcing himself to the core of the lineup.

But again Bench too came up very young.

Fisk is another offensive/defensive catcher who dominated his position.

Piazza was not that good defensively but he was big offensively.

Soto can be a big offensive force and man his position well. He is a centerpiece and he is patient and hits the ball hard.

With statistics updated through May 19, Soto is 10th in the NL in VORP, 12th in all of baseball, outpacing any other Cub. In all of MLB, he’s 9th in OBP and 10th in SLG.

He and McCann have batting averages within one point of each other, but Soto has roughly .040 pts of OBP and .040 pts of SLG on McCann. Only Russ Martin has an OBP higher than Soto for a C, but Soto has .200 pts of SLG on Martin.

Joe Mauer doesn’t come close to Soto. Mauer and Soto also have basically equal averages, but Soto has about .025 pts of OBP on Mauer and .220 pts of SLG. Mauer hasn’t developed the power that was expected. Soto has power in spades.

Geovany Soto doesn’t compare to the other catchers right now. He might slow down, he might come back to earth a little, but if he doesn’t Soto is not only the obvious team MVP but he will be in contention for NL MVP.

If you want to compare Soto to someone, compare him to Albert Pujols – a guy who came out of nowhere to be a premiere hitter, lifting his team to new heights. Of course, Albert only plays 1B, the easiest position on the defensive spectrum and Soto plays C, the hardest.

Now, I’m holding back my expectations, waiting to see Geo go through a cold streak and see where he ends up after that, but I’ve been waiting for that cold streak now for about 200 ABs.

Much appreciated!

only 2 months ago, someone actually thought they were close.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2008/3/5/164733/9984

From mlb

Geovany Soto 444
Mike Napoli 378
Brian McCann 375
Russell Martin 347
Ryan Doumit 296

Besides what he does on offense and defense, I think its his leadership and his approach to the game that makes him unique

with Soto’s performance so far, but I’d prefer to wait a while before making any assumptions. A full ML season is hard on players, especially catchers. I prefer to see hoe he holds up. Good thing he drop some of the weight he was carrying around though.

When Soto puts the ball in play… he almost always hits it really friggin hard!

And, behind the plate he’s throwing out runners at a better than average clip… and he’s protected the plate very well!

Note: Inquiring minds want to know… how the hell does Jason Kendall lead the league in runners throw out with 16? He couldn’t throw my grandma out last year! Did he have a bum arm last year?

I love that Cubs finally have a catcher that can throw runners out and has some offensive power.

I would to be able to track Soto progress on both sides of the ball. See how it changes over the course of the year. But I don’t know enough about it to actually do that.

Could someone point me in the right direction of where I could learn those things or even volunteer to help me learn that.

Thanks

they are two completely different players.

Soto is a very good offensive catcher and a good defensive catcher. Pudge is a great defensive catcher and a moderate to good offensive catcher.

except no steroids.

he’s no Hector Villanueva

before comparing to Bench, Fisk, Piazza, etc? One thing those guys all have in common is durability. It remains to be seen how Soto will hold up.