Alfonso Soriano News

Soriano to leadoff this season

No suprises here… Alfonso Soriano will be the leadoff hitter for the Chicago Cubs. After having a batting average of .299 in his first season as a Cub and hitting 173 hits and 33 home runs, some wonder if he is more worthy of a position lower in the batting order. According to most baseball experts, a typical leadoff hitter must be consistent, must be fast, must draw walks fairly easily, and has to have a somewhat low amount of strikeouts. Soriano fits into most of these categories, but two conflicts seem to come to mind when Soriano leads off the Cubs batting order.

1) Soriano’s power numbers make him somewhat more suitable for a #3 or #5 spot.

Soriano finished the ‘07 season with a slugging percentage of .560 and an on-base percentage of .351. A somewhat average, ordinary OBP for a leadoff man, but an unusually high slugging average. Maybe, some fans argue, he would fit perfectly lower in the batting order, where he could use his slugging power to hit more runners home. This sounds reasonable, but still some fans argue that if this were to happen, Soriano’s speed would go to waste because he would be hitting in a position where he wouldn’t need to run as fast as he could.

 2) Soriano strikes out WAY too much for a leadoff hitter.

As mensioned above, the ideal leadoff hitter’s role is to get on base to be later hit home by the #3, #4, and #5 spots. Free-swinging Alfonso Soriano ended the ‘07 season with 160 strikeouts and only 31 walks. As terrible as this ratio is, Soriano’s batting average and OBP seem to outweigh the bad.

One of the main factors of this Soriano never moving lower in the lineup is the statements in his contract. In the contract Soriano signed in January of last year, it stated that unless Soriano expressly says otherwise, he is the leadoff hitter for the Chicago Cubs. Part of this is that maybe, just maybe, Alfonso should try to think about the needs of the team rather than what he likes best. Just like when he switched from second base to the outfield in 2006, the switch could work out for the best.

What do you think? Comment on this article and tell us where you think Soriano should be in the lineup!