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 |
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