When asked during the Cubs Convention why he insists on using Alfonso Soriano as his leadoff man, Cubs manager Lou Piniella had a ready reply.
“He feels very comfortable there,” Piniella said. “I feel very comfortable with him there, and if [Carlos] Zambrano plays, then he needs somebody to give him protection in the lineup.”
The audience laughed, knowing well that Zambrano was one of the Cubs’ premier power hitters last year, with a .397 slugging percentage that topped regulars Juan Pierre (.388), Matt Murton (.365), Cesar Izturis (.260), Ronny Cedeno (.339) and Todd Walker (.390).
Still, the question of whether Soriano would be wasted in the leadoff spot is one Piniella is sure to be asked again in spring training, which begins Wednesday when pitchers and catchers report to Fitch Park.
An argument can be made that he’s best-suited for the middle of the order, where his home-run power can be exploited to its fullest.
But when Soriano agreed to an eight-year, $136 million contract in November, he did so with the understanding he’d be the Cubs’ leadoff man. It was part of the reason he chose the Cubs, though the $136 million didn’t hurt matters.
While there’s no reason to believe Piniella will change his mind on this issue, the great debate over whether a hitter with Soriano’s power should be leading off could heat up if the Cubs are scratching for runs in a cold and wet April dominated by home games in Chicago.
Soriano smacked a career-high 46 home runs last year for the Washington Nationals, and he set a major-league record with the New York Yankees in 2003 by leading off a game with a home run 13 times.
Getting serious for a moment, Piniella said he doesn’t have any qualms about using Soriano at the top spot, despite the relative lack of opportunities with runners in scoring position.
“That’s where he belongs in the lineup,” Piniella said. “I’ve played with some really, really good players, and managed some really good players, that have power and strike out. But, boy, they give you nothing but offense. Bobby Bonds, for one, and Rickey Henderson, for another.
“Don’t look at the strikeouts (160 last season), look at his on-base percentage (.351). Look at the runs he scores (119). Look at the runs he manufactures out of the one hole. Last year he manufactured over 200 runs out of the one hole. That’s as good as it gets, baseball-wise.”
Piniella likes Soriano’s speed as much as his power, and, of course, speed is a good quality to have if you’re leading off.
When Piniella managed the Yankees in 1988, Henderson hit .305 with six home runs and 50 RBIs, stealing 93 bases in 106 attempts. Henderson is arguably the greatest leadoff hitter of the modern era, and often altered the approach of opposing pitchers.
“I felt like Rickey Henderson very often changed the outcome of the game before the game even started,” Cubs assistant general manager Randy Bush said. “He takes the starting pitcher out of his game right away, because that pitcher stays awake at night knowing he doesn’t want to walk him, because then he steals second and gets things going.”
Soriano batted ninth with the Yankees in 2001, before manager Joe Torre moved him into the leadoff spot ahead of Derek Jeter in ’02, despite the fact he struck out a lot, rarely walked and was impatient at the plate.
“Rickey Henderson is a guy Alfonso talks about a lot, and that’s good,” Torre told Sports Illustrated in ’02. “But when Rickey was a leadoff hitter, his goal was to get to first. This kid wants to be on second.”
Soriano has said all along he prefers to bat leadoff, though for $136 million, he’ll do whatever the Cubs ask.
“I help the team more [at leadoff],” he said after signing with the Cubs. “I can use my legs or I can use my power. It’s up to the manager, though, and if he wants anyone different batting at the top of the lineup, that’s fine too.”
The last Cubs leadoff hitter with as much raw power as Soriano was Rick Monday in 1976. Unlike Soriano, Monday had virtually no speed and little experience in the top spot, but he responded with a .271 average and a career-high 32 home runs, third in the National League behind Mike Schmidt (38) and Dave Kingman (37).
While Monday scored 102 runs, another career high, he wound up with only 77 RBIs. Some felt Monday should have batted behind Bill Madlock, who led the league with a .339 average.
The experiment didn’t last long. Monday was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in ’77, and he mostly batted sixth in the lineup in an injury-plagued ’77 season in which he hit .230 with 15 homers in 118 games.
Of course, a move down in the order doesn’t mean Soriano will automatically turn into a 140-RBI man. Former Washington manager Frank Robinson discovered that late last season.
“In September they tried to move him to the No. 3 hole so he could drive in 100 runs, and he didn’t fare as well,” Piniella said.
Soriano hit .204 in September with three home runs and 11 RBIs. For the season, he hit .294 with 39 homers, 81 RBIs and 38 stolen bases in 54 attempts in the leadoff spot, but dropped to .153 in 72 at-bats in the No. 3 hole, with four homers, seven RBIs and one steal in two attempts.
That’s a small sample size, however, and Soriano has fared well in the middle of the lineup in other years.
He had 497 at-bats in the No. 5 hole with Texas in ’05, hitting .270 there with 30 homers and 93 RBIs, with 24 steals in 26 attempts. In ’04 he batted primarily in the No. 3 hole, finishing with a .280 average there with 22 homers, 78 RBIs and 11 steals in 15 attempts.
The Cubs are adamant that Soriano is batting where he belongs, and general manager Jim Hendry believes he’ll excel at the top spot while sluggers Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd take care of business in the power spots.
“We felt he could do the most damage in that role,” Hendry said. “Very few guys that have played this game bring to the table in that first spot in the lineup the things that he does.”
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psullivan@tribune.com
