Alfonso Soriano came up in the bottom of the first to face the Cardinal’s Jeff Suppan with men on first and second and two outs. Suppan walked the previous two batters, each on four pitches. Soriano took the first two pitches, meaning Jeff had thrown ten straight balls. Now, I would argue that a batter, when a pitcher is showing that kind of wildness, should wait for the pitcher to actually throw a strike before bearing down. Instead, Soriano is geared up for a good pitch on 2-0, and pops out on a pitch inside which would be ball three.
Normally, I don’t have a problem with a batter going after a 2-0 pitch, it’s a great pitch to hit. Most pitchers, however, don’t fall behind 2-0 having thrown 10 straight balls. On most 2-0 pitches, there’s a reasonable expectation that a pitcher will be in the strike zone. I don’t think that expectation existed here, and until the pitcher proves he can throw a strike, there’s no use swinging at a pitch unless it’s the phattest one you’ve seen.
The Cubs lead 1-0 in the top of the third on a solo homer by Tyler Colvin in the first.
What is it about the Yankee second basemen of the past decade and their incredible success despite pronounced plate indiscipline?
(Although it does look like Cano’s gonna break his walk record of 39 this year.)
@Slideshow Bob: In Soriano’s case, he hits for a enough power to make up for his poor discipline. Remember, OBA*TB is approximates runs. Cano is more a hitter like Gwynn or Puckett, or even Ichiro, who’s OBP comes from hits. It doesn’t matter how you get on base. Soriano might have been Albert Pujols if he had discipline.