Please stop blaming the WBC for Soto

by Cubbie-Tim on May 8, 2009 10:29 PM CDT Comment 28 comments

As you can see, many who played are doing just fine. The WBC is not why he looks out of shape and overweight. To blame the WBC for Soto, makes no sense, just by looking at Lilly or Fukudome to begin with.

Seems to me, that some are off to a good start, some are not. I cannot see how the WBC can be blamed for Soto, based on this. Using the WBC for Soto alone is not a fair judgment to the WBC or the players who are not slow out the gate this season.

Here are the stats of the USA team in 2009 regular season so far. Seems many of the top stars are not having a problem so far. I for one was vastly surprised by Chipper Jones, Evan Longoria, and Kevin Youkilis, they are of to a very good start (is this because of the WBC?).

PITCHERS	Team	Wins	Loses	Games	ERA
Bell, Heath	San Diego Padres	1	0	11	0.00
Broxton, Jonathan	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	0	13	0.64
Grabow, John	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	0	13	2.84
Guthrie, Jeremy	Baltimore Orioles	2	3	7	4.97
Hanrahan, Joel	Washington Nationals	0	1	13	6.00
Hawkins, LaTroy	Houston Astros	0	0	13	2.84
Howell, J.P.	Tampa Bay Rays	0	2	14	3.65
Lilly, Ted	Chicago Cubs	4	2	6	3.11
Lindstrom, Matt	Florida Marlins	1	1	12	6.55
Oswalt, Roy	Houston Astros	0	2	7	4.26
Peavy, Jake	San Diego Padres	2	4	7	4.27
Putz, J.J.	New York Mets	1	2	15	3.38
Shields, Scot	Los Angeles Angels	0	2	13	9.31
Thornton, Matt	Chicago White Sox	1	1	12	2.70
Ziegler, Brad	Oakland Athletics	0	0	10	3.09

CATCHERS	Team	BA	OBP	HR	OPS
Iannetta, Chris	Colorado Rockies	0.194	0.351	6	0.851
McCann, Brian	Atlanta Braves	0.295	0.358	2	0.755

INFIELDERS	Team	BA	OBP	HR	OPS
DeRosa, Mark	Cleveland Indians	0.244	0.304	6	0.751
Jeter, Derek	New York Yankees	0.264	0.333	4	0.741
Jones, Chipper	Atlanta Braves	0.310	0.408	3	0.911
Longoria, Evan	Tampa Bay Rays	0.362	0.411	10	1.152
Roberts, Brian	Baltimore Orioles	0.303	0.375	4	0.842
Rollins, Jimmy	Philadelphia Phillies	0.211	0.248	1	0.537
Wright, David	New York Mets	0.314	0.408	3	0.899
Youkilis, Kevin	Boston Red Sox	0.393	0.505	6	1.224

OUTFIELDERS	Team	BA	OBP	HR	OPS
Braun, Ryan	Milwaukee Brewers	0.327	0.433	6	0.988
Dunn, Adam	Washington Nationals	0.248	0.445	7	1.005
Granderson, Curtis	Detroit Tigers	0.252	0.320	9	0.825
Victorino, Shane	Philadelphia Phillies	0.304	0.347	4	0.805

Not On USA - But are Cubs		BA	OBP	HR	OPS
Soto	Chicago Cubs	0.162	0.296	0	0.49
Fukudome	Chicago Cubs	0.298	0.434	4	0.95

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Yes I agree

Soto just hasn’t looked like the same guy in 2008 for whatever reason. I just hope he turns it around somehow.

Would have been nice to have a couple extra runs tonight when he pinch hit.

This team needs to score more than 2 runs in order to win, the way this bullpen is we aren’t going to win very many close low scoring games.

by jeff_pico on May 8, 2009 10:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Amen

Plus if he had to get in shape earlier for this tourny, wouldnt it stand to reason he’d be slimmer? Perhaps he rested on his laurels this offseason…b/t this and Ramirez’s injury and Heilmans impending suckitiude, Im losing hope quickly

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on May 8, 2009 10:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

too early

way too early to lose hope, remember even with the loss tonight we’ve won 6 out of 8 and if you want to look at the division still only 2.5 games out.

Time for Dempster to step up tomorrow.

by jeff_pico on May 8, 2009 10:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

+ a long way to go

people calm down. its a marathon not a sprint

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 8, 2009 10:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I suppose, but it makes me rue last year even more

I mean they were so *%&! good last year

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on May 8, 2009 10:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

maybe we need

to be more like the 2006 Cards. Fighting for it all the way.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on May 9, 2009 11:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Performance enhancing drug suspicion is there no matter if Cub fans want to deal with it

Soto needs to step it up in a hurry or the whispers are going to grow louder. It is the reality of the situation and the one across baseball that has been allowed to fester thanks to Bud Selig and the players’ union.

by BLou on May 8, 2009 10:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You're the only one whispering

So this comes off like an extortion threat: “Start hitting or I’ll accuse you of doing ’roids!”

by Josh77 on May 8, 2009 11:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sigh...

The suspicion is fair. Look at Soto pre 2007, 2007-2008 and now. The metamorphisis of his body and his meteroic rise out of literally nowhere and subsequent big drop-off are all right there in black and white.

by BLou on May 8, 2009 11:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hate to agree with BLou

but yes its ok to ‘whisper’ this. At this point in his career Soto has only had 2 big power years in his life.

BUT it could just be a case of a player having a breakout year and then never doing it again, I don’t think anyone thought Rick Wilkens was on steroids.

by jeff_pico on May 8, 2009 11:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

for me its not the offensive numbers

as I have mentioned before, his injuries pre 2007 and today concern me. Why was he basically injury free for two years? Steroids do more than help you put up offensive numbers, but they keep injuries healthy. That is the ONLY reason I would even consider to speculate

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 8, 2009 11:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

he was injured last year.

something with his hand, no? It’s what causes him to let go of the bat when he swings now.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on May 9, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jeez

You do well, it’s because of steroids. You do poorly, it’s because of steroids.

If he was taking steroids, why isn’t he still doing it?

You guys would do really well in 17th Century Salem.

by Josh77 on May 9, 2009 4:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well said

If (s)he floats, (s)he’s a witch

by leothelip on May 9, 2009 5:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

burn her

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 9, 2009 7:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Soto turned me into a gnewt

I haz blurg: hotbeans.wordpress.com

by digitalbenjamin on May 11, 2009 8:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

you keep saying that

with no evidence. It is extremely wrong for you to do so.

Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on May 9, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

soto

the wbc might hurt a players performance if he does not get his work in.not to this extent. remember soto was an average minor league catcher. i dont think anybody expected that last year. i think he will come around maybe not to last years standards.pretty bad when you want hill to play.

by NOMAR on May 9, 2009 7:27 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think they

Need to play the WBC in winter. That would stop the people from blaming every little thing on injuries.

"Check the magic of a winning season and there are always reasons beyond the talent." Ned Colleti

by wrigleyrocker12 on May 9, 2009 7:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

A look at the numbers again

2001-2006: [Rook-AAA] .261 BA, 25 HR total over 6 seasons
2007: [AAA] .353 BA, 26 HR
2008: [ML]: .285 BA, 23 HR

Now to me, that’s just someone who’s light switch finally went on at the age of 24 + additional bat speed from having lost a lot of weight. But having said that, BLou’s suspicion is fair considering the current state of baseball. I just hope he turns it around soon because we need his bat more than ever with ARam out for 4-6 weeks.

by sweethomechicago on May 9, 2009 9:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

not exactly sure what you're saying here

Your premise is not to blame the WBC for Soto. Yet your proof is to trot out the stats for the USA team (plus two Cubs who played on other teams).

If you’re talking about the whole WBC, then you need to show that many MLB players from all the WBC teams are fine. But if you’re talking about just one specific WBC team, then you probably ought to look at the team Soto was on – Puerto Rico – and see how their players are doing in the regular season now.

It’s entirely possible that how Soto was used (or not used) on the Puerto Rico team is part of the problem here. And if other Puerto Rico players are doing poorly, then maybe it was an overall conditioning/practice/approach thing. In which case, the USA team or the rest of the WBC would not be relevant.

Just took a quick glance at the Puerto Rico roster. Of the notable Major League regulars on their roster, Beltran & Molina are having great seasons so far, Vazquez, Sanchez, Pudge & Delgado decent, Snell, Rios & Lopez a little slow to start. Only Aviles and Soto have pretty much sucked so far.

So the only thing to blame for those still looking to blame would be the specifics of Soto’s situation – being the 3rd catcher on a team where the starting catcher is just about a national hero. Doesn’t bode well for playing time, and being 3rd in the depth charts probably didn’t bode well for “reps” during practice, to borrow a football term.

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on May 9, 2009 10:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

good reply.

well thought out, and to answer your question, the USA team was the first that came to mind which every player was in the bigs. i was trying to make a point that many who did play in the WBC are not slumping out the gate.

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 9, 2009 7:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Time to split playing time between Hill and Soto

I’ve seen enough in these near 100 at bats to say something ain’t right about Soto. He’s fat with a slow bat. And unless Piniella is prepared to bat Soto #8, we can’t afford that slow bat in this lineup right now. Soto has got to be able to contribute at least something offensively, and right now he is incapable of doing that.

Those of you who object to my suspicion of Soto being connected to performance enhancing drugs are entitled to your objection. But I won’t deviate from my growing suspicion on matters.

by BLou on May 9, 2009 9:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs