I pretty much agree with the above. Soriano makes me shake my head sometimes but the facts are that the Cubs record with him in the lineup the past two years is much better than when he is out of the lineup.

And how many great defensive left fielders are out there? Braun Carlos Lee? Pat Burrell? And its not as the rest of the Cubs have been stellar lately. Theriot had two misplays the last two games and I think an error on saturday (I wish he wouldn't leave his feet as much). Ramirez has at least 4 errors in the past week.

And our #3 hitter (where usually the best hitters reside) has been a singles machine the past 3 months, when he is not hitting into DPs. Soriano is the least of my worries right now.

in spring training, i was pretty outspoken about him being a lead-off man, but think about all of the runners he has knocked in from the bottom of the lineup. when your lineup is as deep as the Cubs has been, and they are batting guys hitting around .300 in the 8 and 9 holes, it is proving to be a real advantage to have a slugger at the top knocking these guys in. i love it when they have theriot and soto or reed johnson down in the 8 and 9 hole getting on base and setting the table for soriano. the lineup they have right now seems to be proving that power at the top can pay off in more than the occasional solo leadoff homer.

i agree with enigma, soriano is no worry right now, certainly not to the point where i feel the cubs are doomed with him, and that he has been costing the cubs games. when he comes up to the plate lately, i usually feel pretty good about it, unlike with the right fielder, fukudome, who i am sorry to say i am having a hard time feeling confident about when he comes up.

Until Fukudome figures out how to hit major leaguers he needs to sit a little and let Micah play. This could turn into a situation like last year when Soto started gettin more and more AB's cause Kendall wasn't getting it done.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

play hoffpauier in right? im not sure about having 2 crappy corner outfielders. id sure like to see hoffpauier take all of wards AB's though. ive seen enough of the daryle ward show.

I'll let up on the Soriano stuff...as far as Micah, I love the kid but then you're playing with 1/3 of a good defensive outfield. Fukudome does bring a good glove...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Need the extra offense at the expense of defense at this point. This isn't permanant. Just a few games. I personally think its genius.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

yeah, to me a good glove in the outfield is a nice plus to stick with an average hitter, but a being a bad outfielder isnt enough of a negative to get rid of a very good, productive hitter.

i feel zero alarm about needing more offensive production. all of my alarm is aimed at the pitching staff. this team will continue scoring runs.

Micah for Soriano in the late innings?

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Why?
You're not adding defense. Swap experienced power for inexperienced power, with no defensive improvement?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

in case you've missed the last 20 posts I hate Soriano with a passion...Micah's disciplined at the plate...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

And lets remember folks, with all the complaints about the lineup, defense etc., the Cubs are still 4 1/2 games in first and if the Mets can hold on and the Cubs win today your looking at a 5 1/2 game lead with 22 to play. And the Cubs could win more games this year than any Cubs team I, and probably whoever else is reading this, have ever witnessed.

Sure the Cubs haven't played well the last few days, but the Phillies are a good team and the Astros have been one of the best teams in the NL since the break. Lets hope Zambrano just needs a week or two off, and get him strong for the playoffs. Even with some of the warts this team may have, with a healthy Zambrano and Harden and home field advantage I like the Cubs chances in the playoffs.

I agree with the idea of giving Micah some at bats, though maybe not in right field but he should be the first left handed hitter off the bench. He should be better than Ward. i would even give him a few starts at first, Lee has been maybe the 5th best hitter in this lineup the last few months. I don't think it would be a huge dropoff if Micah could hit like he did earlier in the year.

i keep soriano in, but i took a heavy beating for that on another thread that i am still recovering from. i would use hoffpauier as my big lefty stick off the bench over ward, and possibly start him at 1st now and again to give lee a breather.

with fontenot and hoffpaueir as LH pinch-hitters, that is a pretty good 1-2 punch late in a game. this team just keep running hitters up there, they are so deep. shit, even blanco has been getting some key hits this year.

Ward can go too...out the door...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

fontenot seems to be getting the call for LH pinch-hitter much more often than ward now, and rightfully so. that fontenot is a valuable ballplayer for this team.

Yeah he has. Love the pocket rocket.

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Might be a good time to give some kids like Hoffpauir a couple games and give guys like Soriano a couple days off. They might benefit from some extra rest. Plus Hoffpauir just tore it up in AAA with 25 HR and 100 RBI in less than 300 AB's thats unreal.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Yeah, that kid looks to be for real. Maybe in the not-so-distant future the Cubs can once again have a first baseman capable of hitting a home run.

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?