Yardbarker: Geovany Soto

2009 Recap: Geovany Soto

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:53:56 -0500

In January, 2008, I along with 200 other slopeheads sat rapturously in the cavernous U. S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, IL as each of the participants in the Cubs Caravan reluctantly stood up and blathered for 3 minutes or so about how they were going to finally end the Cubs drought. The most interesting guest that day was one Geovany Soto, the newly installed starting catcher, a man who toiled for years rather anonymously in the Cubs system, until seemingly flipping a switch the previ...

Cubs Top Prospects and the Hot Stove

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500

Award Week for Major League Baseball continues on Tuesday with the announcement of the AL Cy Young winner. Chris Coghlan of the Marlins and Andrew Bailey of the A's were named NL and AL Rookie of the Year on Monday. With Coghlan taking the trophy, Geovany Soto will hopefully return to the form in 2010 that won him the award last season. John Grabow was the last Cub to final for free agency on Monday. Jim Hendry reportedly is looking to lock-up Grabow before Friday by signing the southp...

What the hell happened with Geovany Soto? A crude estimation of his luck-neutral production

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:50:52 -0500

We were discussing Soto’s ******, ****** 2009 luck in the last thread. In a previous post, MB pointed out that Soto’s batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and its expected value (xBABIP), based on his hit-type distributions were a whopping 63 points apart in 2009. What could we have seen if he weren’t so epically unlucky? First, a few comments on where I’m getting all this info from. The state-of-the-art in xBABIP is this calculator from THT, which is what MB us...

Is Geovany Soto Being Shopped?

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:56:45 -0500

The 2008 NL Rookie of the Year is coming off a horrible season but is Jim Hendry shopping his catcher? According to a report from Baseball Prospectus on the eve of the GM Meetings in Chicago, "Catching has become an increasingly difficult position for teams to fill, yet there are some interesting names floating as trade possibilities : the Pirates' Ryan Doumit, the Rays' Dioner Navarro, the Rangers' Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the Cubs' Geovany Soto."

2009 Cubs and xBABIP

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:36:22 -0500

Here are the 2009 Cubs starting position players BABIP and xBABIP (I used this handy tool): Player BABIP xBABIP Soto 0.251 0.314 Lee 0.333 0.308 Fontenot 0.281 0.317 Theriot 0.327 0.335 Ramirez 0.331 0.306 Soriano 0.280 0.305 Fukudome 0.314 0.332 Bradley 0.311 0.322 Lee and Ramirez got a little lucky and the rest were a bit unlucky. Geovany Soto got screwed.

Geo Soto not injured in large fuel explosion near San Juan

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:59:01 -0500

A major fuel storage depot exploded today near San Juan, PR, as reported by CNN and other news sources. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the mishap, which has injured one person critically and caused thousands more to be evacuated. One report describes how investigators have been talking to Geovany Soto, catcher of the Chicago Cubs, who himself narrowly escaped injury. Reportedly, Soto was at a city park near the site of the explosion, enjoying a traditional Puerto Ri...

Geovany Soto Returns

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:07:44 -0500

Geovany Soto has been activated from the DL, and Micah Hoffpauir has been sent to the minors to make room for him. Haven’t seen the line-up for tonight’s Rockies game yet, so don’t know if Soto will get the start. I assume Lou wants to get him in there as fast as possible and give [...]

Soto Activated; Hoff Sent Down

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:19:05 -0500

The Cubs had to make a roster move today to accommodate Geovany Soto and the victim was Micah Hoffpauir. He'll surely be back up when rosters expand on September 1st and possibly sooner. After a good start to the season, he sort of crescendoed at a .920 OPS on May 20th and since then has hit 182/217/336 in 115 PA with 4 HR's, mostly in part-time duty.

That leaves the Cubs bench with Jake Fox, Koyie Hill, Aaron Miles, Sam Fuld and either Mike Fontenot or Jeff Baker depending on who gets the start.

Geo and The Cash

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:27:00 -0500

For those of you eagerly awaiting Geovany Soto's return and/or the promotion of Andrew Cashner, well, have I got a link for you.The Tennessee Smokies' battery of catcher Geovany Soto and pitcher Andrew Cashner could be reunited at Wrigley Field in the near future.Oh really? Go on ..."I feel really good," Soto said. "I didn't feel it (muscle) at all doing anything - throwing, blocking, hitting. That's a good sign."Thanks for that parenthetical, Mr. Editor, l...

From the Wire...Fuld Recalled

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:13:20 -0500

According to a recap of the Iowa Cubs win on Friday night, the Cubs will recall Sam Fuld from Triple-A on Saturday in order to take the roster spot of Geovany Soto. Soto will officially be placed on the 15-day DL Saturday.

The Inevitable: Soto Goes to DL

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:49:44 -0500

The inevitable has happened: the Cubs have placed Geovany Soto on the DL with a strained oblique. The injury was suffered during batting practice before Wednesday’s game. Carrie Muskat says Soto could miss a month, about the same amount of time Ryan Dempster the Toecrusher is expected to be on the shelf. It’s not getting [...]

Top 10 Most Embarrassing Things About the Cubs

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:51:23 -0500

Please feel free to add or make up your own.
Here's my attempt:

#10: It turns out Geovany Soto's rotund shape came from a bad case of the munchies.

#9: Back to back sweeps in St. Louis and...San Diego (May 19 - 24).

#8: Taking out frustrations on a defenseless Gatorade dispenser.

#7: The "Exhibition" Games at the new Yankee Stadium, where the Cubs lost by a combined score of 5 to 17 in the two games.

#6: Getting more left handed.

#5: "Captain Morgan Club" - you just have to hope that the team really got alot of cash from that booze company to put that sign up at Wrigley Field. I can't even walk in there because the name is so embarassing.

#4: Aaron Miles. You can't even say "scrappy" about this guy.

#3: This thinking: "well, it's okay that the Cubs lost because so did St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati." EMBARASSING!

#2: The absolute lack of clutch hitting, and how the loss of one bat (Aramis) completely ruined an entire, expensive, professional, veteran line-up.

#1: Milton Bradley - from bumping the ump in his first game to tossing the ball into the bleachers with only two outs (Milton's Boner) - there isn't alot about Milton that isn't excruciatingly embarrassing.

Soto Tested Positive for Marijuana During WBC

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:18:05 -0500

According to a report from the Tribune, Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana while playing for Team Puerto Rico during the WBC. The International Baseball Federation released the news on Thursday and Soto is expected to address the situation with the media. Geovany Soto released a statement. He said he "was embarrassed" by his lapse of judgment. He said his behavior was inappropriate and said it was an isolated incident.

Soto, Dope & The MLB Drug Policy

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:03:20 -0500

It turns out that the Cubs underachieving catcher is just high. At least that's the word from Chris DeLuca via Twitter (and elsewhere now): ChrisDeLuca Cubs catcher Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana during 2009 World Baseball Classic. MLB and Cubs will not discipline Soto. Marijuana is listed on Major League Baseball's banned substances as a "drug of abuse" under its Drug Treatment Program. But how did they find out he was using? From MLB policy: Except as set fo...

Geovany Soto Smokes Weed

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:52:44 -0500

Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana during the WBC this March. He won’t be punished by the Cubs or MLB, but will not be able to play in the next two WBC. “I am embarrassed by my lapse in judgement,” Soto said in a statement Thursday. Why the test results were being released now is not clear. Soto has undergone drug testing regularly in his career, and this is the only positive test at any point. Soto has “assured the Cubs this was an isolated incident an...