Alfonso Soriano News

Soriano ready to run on top

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Alfonso Soriano has heard the criticism. He’s heard people question why he is leading off for the Cubs. Why not move the left fielder down in the order to take advantage of his power?Soriano smiles.

“That’s part of the job,” he said Thursday. “I don’t think about it. If somebody asks a question, I have to respond. That’s your job, and my job is working on the field. I don’t take it personal.”

He’s heard the criticism. Soriano is using it to motivate him.

“There will always be questions, some negative,” he said. “I like that they have negative questions. It makes me work more. If everything was perfect, I wouldn’t have to work.

“I don’t like people to talk negative about me — it motivates me,” he said. “That’s what I do, when people talk negative. I say, ‘OK, I have to work more, so people won’t talk negative any more.’”

Cubs manager Lou Piniella has nothing but positives to say about Soriano. Piniella has been asked often about switching the lineup and dropping Soriano down. He dismisses such talk.

“We’re going to do what’s best for us and for ‘Sori,’” Piniella said. “I like him in the leadoff spot. I think that’s where he belongs, I think that’s where he feels the most comfortable.”

In his first season with the Cubs, Soriano batted .299, hit 33 homers and drove in 70 runs. He finished with 19 stolen bases, well below his 40-steal season of 2006, but he battled leg injuries, beginning in April with his left hamstring, and then in August when he injured his right quad.

He was told to rest this winter, and not go 100 percent, just 75 percent. The time off helped him heal.

“I feel very good,” Soriano said. “I’m very surprised. I took a long time, vacation, and I came back, and it took me maybe two, three weeks to get comfortable with my legs. I’m able to do things I didn’t think I was supposed to do.”

Rest can be a powerful thing.

“I don’t even think about it,” Soriano said of his legs. “I’m running, and I don’t think about it. Last year, I did.”

“Soriano told me the other day, ‘My legs are really starting to feel good,’” Piniella said. “That’s really what you want to hear from him.”

What Piniella also wants to hear is that the Cubs’ $136 million outfielder is feeling more comfortable in his second season in Chicago.

“I’ve talked to him a few times about that particular subject,” Piniella said. “He’s more attuned to Cubs baseball and being here and knowing the staff and knowing the players. He’s much more comfortable. I think it’ll be a big benefit for him.

“You look at last year’s team, our big guys, our stars, had solid seasons but none of them had breakout seasons or off-the-chart seasons,” Piniella said. “Hopefully, this year a few of them will do just that.”

The Cubs hope Soriano picks up where he left off in September, when he hit .320 with 27 RBIs and a club-record 14 homers. Seven of those homers were leadoff shots, the most by any player in one month in Major League history.

“People say they don’t want me to hit leadoff because I hit a lot of homers and I don’t have a lot of RBIs,” Soriano said. “People say I’m not a good leadoff hitter. I have a lot of power and can bat third or fifth, and that’s why people ask that question — why do I like batting leadoff? I like it. Now I can use my power, and I can use my legs.”

Opposing pitchers have to be ready when Soriano steps into the batter’s box. He’s expected to make his first Cactus League start Friday when the Cubs play host to the San Francisco Giants at HoHoKam Park. He’ll be batting first.

“I like leading off,” Soriano said. “If I make very good contact, I can make it 1-0. If I get a base hit, I have a chance to steal a base because I’m very fast, too.”