Catcher, Chicago Cubs
Age: 25
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 225
Prior to 2008:
A native of
Puerto Rico, Soto attended the Advanced Central High School in Carolina and was
then chosen by the Cubs in the 2001 amateur draft. With a classic stocky
catcher’s build, his defensive skills developed more quickly than his batting
skills. First assigned to Mesa of the Arizona Rookie League, the 18-year-old
hit .260 in 41 games with 16 doubles, one home run, and 20 RBIs. Back with Mesa
in 2002, he batted .269 with 10 doubles, three home runs, and 24 RBIs over the
course of 44 games. He then appeared in one game with Boise of the Class A
Northwest League. In 2003 he played for Daytona of the Class A Florida State
League and was a league All-Star as he batted .242 with 16 extra base hits and
38 RBIs. In 2004 Soto advanced to West Tennessee of the Class AA Southern
League and again was a league All-Star as he hit .271 with 14 doubles, 9 home
runs and 48 RBIs. With Iowa of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 2005, he
batted .253 with four home runs and 39 RBIs, gaining a late-season call-up to
the Cubs, where he went hitless in one pinch-hitting appearance. With Iowa
again in 2006, Soto hit .272 with 6 home runs and 38 RBIs. In another
late-season call-up to the Cubs, he played in 11 games and batted .200 with two
RBIs. Returning to Iowa in 2007, he had an MVP season, hitting .353 with 26
home runs and a league-leading 109 RBIs. Having developed into a solid
defensive catcher who now had some batting punch, Soto hit .389 for the Cubs in
September and was included on the postseason roster where he appeared in two
games in the NLDS loss to Arizona. He entered 2008 as the club’s starting
catcher.
2008 Season Summary
Appeared in 141
games
C – 136, DH –
3, PH – 6
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 563
At Bats – 494
Runs – 66
Hits – 141
Doubles – 35
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 23
RBI – 86
Bases on Balls
– 62
Int. BB – 6
Strikeouts – 121
Stolen Bases – 0
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .285
OBP - .364
Slugging Pct. -
.504
Total Bases – 249
GDP – 11
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 5
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 16, RBI – 56, AVG – .288, SLG – .522
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Pittsburgh 4/10, (in 5 AB) at Colorado 4/23
Longest hitting
streak – 8 games
Most HR, game –
2 (in 4 AB) vs. Milwaukee 4/30
HR at home – 11
HR on road – 12
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 7 at Pittsburgh 8/26
Pinch-hitting –
3 of 5 (.600) with 2 RBI & 1 BB
Fielding
Chances – 1071
Put Outs – 1011
Assists – 55
Errors – 5
Passed Balls –
5
DP - 9
Pct. - .995
Postseason
Batting: 3 G (NLDS vs. LA Dodgers)
PA – 12, AB –
11, R – 0, H – 2, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB
– 0, CS – 0, AVG - .182, OBP - .250, SLG - .273, TB – 3, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH –
0, SF – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
All-Star
(Started for NL at C)
13th
in NL MVP voting (41 points, 9% share)
NL ROY Voting:
Geovany Soto,
ChiC.: 158 pts. – 31 of 32 first place votes, 99% share
Joey Votto, Cin.:
76 pts. – 1 first place vote, 48% share
Jair Jurrjens,
Atl.: 34 pts. – 21% share
Edinson
Volquez, Cin.: 9 pts. – 6% share
Jay Bruce, Cin.:
7 pts. – 4% share
Kosuke
Fukudome, ChiC.: 4 pts. – 3% share
---
Cubs went 97-64
to finish first in the NL Central Division by 7.5 games over the Milwaukee
Brewers while leading the league in runs scored (855), doubles (329), RBIs
(811), walks drawn (636), OBP (.354), slugging (.443), and total bases (2475).
The Cubs won a second consecutive division title after taking sole possession
of first place on July 26 and coasted the rest of the way. Lost NLDS to the Los
Angeles Dodgers, 3 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘08:
An oblique
injury limited Soto to 102 games in 2009 and his production dropped off to .218
with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. He improved at bat in 2010 to .280 with 17 home
runs and 53 RBIs while his season ended in September due to arthroscopic
shoulder surgery. Despite spending time on the disabled list again in 2011, Soto
appeared in 125 games, the most since his Rookie of the Year season, but batted
only .228 with 17 home runs and 54 RBIs. He also threw out 26.1 percent of
baserunners who attempted to steal against him. Still dealing with injury
problems in 2012, Soto was dealt to the Texas Rangers at the end of July.
Playing in a total of 99 games he hit .198 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. He
appeared in just 54 games with the Rangers in 2013, batting .245 with 9 home
runs and 22 RBIs. Two stints on the DL limited Soto to 24 major league games in
2014. He was sold to the Oakland A’s in August and batted .250 for the season.
He returned to Chicago as a free agent in 2015, this time with the White Sox.
He appeared in 78 games and hit .219 with 9 home runs and 21 RBIs. Defensively
he had a .988 fielding percentage and threw out 30 percent of baserunners
attempting to steal against him, showing that he still was a capable performer behind
the plate. Moving on to the Angels as a free agent, Soto was limited to 26
games due to knee problems in 2016 and had negligible offensive production.
Returning to the White Sox in 2017, injuries limited him to 13 games in what
was apparently his final major league season. For his major league career,
which began with great promise, but fell off due to injuries, Soto batted .245
with 619 hits that included 146 doubles, 4 triples, and 108 home runs. He
further scored 308 runs and compiled 361 RBIs and drew 311 walks. With the Cubs
he batted .252 with 225 runs scored, 460 hits, 112 doubles, 4 triples, 77 home
runs, with 264 RBIs and 243 walks drawn. Appearing in seven postseason games,
he hit .150 with a home run and two RBIs. A fine defensive catcher when
healthy, he was unable to sustain his early offensive performance.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
No comments:
Post a Comment