There's something about Geovany Soto that I find hard to describe, but I'll try anyway.  He looks like he's wearing eye liner or something.  Yep, that's right, the guy who possibly might be the best Cubs catcher I've ever seen has gratuitously long eyebrows.

Also, he's quite possibly the best Cubs catcher I've ever seen.

A while back, I started penning an article that has vanished into the ether, which is a fancy way for saying that I never finished writing it.  It was about how a number of players who have been essential to the Cubs were also around back in the days of Dusty Baker, only they never really had a chance to shine.  Soto is one of those guys - can you believe that before he played those fateful 18 regular season games in 2007, Soto saw action in bits and pieces of 2006 and 2005?  I wonder if Dusty knew what he had.  Probably not.

What I do know is this - in his first full season, the Rookie of the Year award winner batted .285 with 23 homers, 86 RBI, 35 doubles, and he drew 62 walks while posting an OPS of .868.  As a rookie.  Is it possible that better days are ahead for Soto?

While I can't answer that question, what I do know is this:

Of all catchers in baseball, Soto was ...

• 2nd in doubles with 35 (behind only Brian McCann who had 42)
• Tied for 1st in homeruns with 23 (Brian McCann also hit 23)
• 3rd behind Brian McCann and Bengie Molina with 86 RBI (Molina had 95, McCann 87)
• 3rd in walks with 62 (Russell Martin had 90, Joe Mauer had 84)
• 4th among catchers with a .285 AVG (Mauer, McCann, and Molina were higher with .328, .301, and .292)
• 4th among catchers with an OBP of .364 (Mauer, Martin, and McCann had OBPs of .413, .385, and .373)
• 2nd among catchers with an OPS of .868 (McCann had an OPS of .896)

There are other catchers out there who are immensely talented.  McCann is 24 and has hit the ball very well in his brief career, the Angels have Mike Napoli, a 27 year-old who has yet to play in more than 99 games in a season, but has averaged 15 homeruns a year, and Chris Ianetta, a 25-year-old for the Rockies who hit 18 homers in 104 games played.  But while these other guys are good, Soto may receive legitimate MVP consideration in future seasons, assuming he doesn't take a Rick Wilkins-like plunge.  (Wilkins, for those of you blessed with ignorance on the matter, hit 30 homeruns as a 26-year-old for the Cubs in 1993, and tho' he played in parts of 8 more seasons he never hit more than 14 homeruns, nor did he bat better than .243 while with the Astros and Giants in 1996.)

Incidentally, Soto is at this point the only All Star Cub hitter in Hendry's entire tenure who was developed entirely by the Chicago farm system.  Considering all the years that Jim has been at it, and the massive number of failed prospects to come and go through the minor league turnstiles, let's give Soto credit for defying all odds.

And even more importantly, let's hope with every fiber of our beings that he'll be even better in 2009.  A Soto who masters the National League is a dangerous Soto indeed.

With 31 out of 32 first place votes, Geovany Soto was awarded the National League Rookie of the Year Award today.  The single 1st place vote that he didn't receive went to Joey Votto of the Reds.

It's so rare for the Cubs to develop offensively talented players as it is, but Soto is the first home-grown catcher to have any success since the one-year wonder year of Rick Wilkins, and before him probably Randy Hundley.  Seriously, when the best catcher of your team's history played in the years of the Great Depression, you know that you're long, loooong overdue.

Not only was Soto the best rookie in baseball this past season, but I won't be surprised to see him receive a few MVP votes as well.  Certainly he has no chance of winning, but on the Cubs there was no single player who meant more to the team than Soto.  It's hard enough for a catcher to call a good game and to be effective defensively, but Soto also put up some of the best offensive numbers of any catcher in baseball this past season.  His OPS of .868 was second only to Atlanta's Brian McCann amongst catchers who had more than 500 plate appearances in '08.

Soto was also 4th among all catchers in fielding percentage in 2008, he gunned out roughly 26% of all attempted base stealers (putting him in the top 10), and his catcher ERA was the 3rd best in baseball.

I'm a bit of a baseball cynic, so I'm not willing to bet that Soto has an equally good - or better - 2009, but it would be hard to expect him to do worse.  The Cubs are fortunate to have him for the next half decade, and I'm looking forward to seeing his accomplishments.

I mean, hey, it's like I said - the Cubs almost never develop a hitter, and they haven't developed a catcher since the dust bowl.  Soto is special, 'nuff said.

I'll have a game recap tomorrow, although it can be summaraized in five words - Cubs lost, Soto got hurt.

Geo Soto fouled off a pitch in the 6th, resulting in soreness to his left hand.  He has suffered hand soreness earlier this season, and while I suspect he won't miss the playoffs over this, I'm thinking he's done for the remainder of the regular season.

Developing ...

As if he needed it:

Last night's game should be the final straw in the Rookie of the Year voting in the NL.  Geo Soto, Unanimous Pick.  I also think Geo Soto is the Most Valuable Cub, and ought to snag some MVP votes. 

If there's such a thing as jinxes, then I am responsible for the Carlos Zambrano implosion tonight. Earlier in the day on Jon Miller's show, I predicted that Carlos was going to dominate the toothless Pirates tonight.

Yeah, whoops.

Apparently Carlos decided that the best way to spend the first inning was by trying to throw the ball through Geovany Soto's chest. Consequently, he was wild. However, after a rough 3-run, nearly 30-pitch first inning, the Moose buckled down and I doubt many people were surprised when the Cubs took the lead in the 4th after Geovany Soto drove in 3 runs with a bases-clearing double, followed by Carlos himself continuing his hitting and RBI streak by knocking home his catcher.

Then, it became a dogfight. The Cubs scored their 4, but the Pirates responded by scoring 1. The Cubs scored another with a DeRosa double, the Pirates retaliated with a 2-run 5th that chased Carlos. The Cubs scored another in the 6th thanks to a Geovany Soto solo homerun, and then the Pirates scored 2 more to claim an 8-7 lead.

Then, in the 8th inning, the Cubs busted out their slugging implements* and rang up the Pirates for 7. Mike Fontenot led off the inning with a single, promoting the Pirates to fatally turn to Craig Hansen. After making the fatal mistake of allowing Alfonso Soriano to reach on a single, Hansen proceeded to walk Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. Then, Sean Burnett swooped in to save the day, and was rewarded by allowing a single to Reed Johnson (scoring Theriot). Then, after securing the first two outs of the inning, Geovany Soto hit another double, scoring another 3 runs, and he was followed by Fontenot who also hit a double, scoring another run. Phew, did you catch all of that?

(*because "whupping sticks" is just too cliche)

Anyway, that pretty much wrapped it up for the Cubs. Sure, Kerry Wood scared us a little in the 9th, but the final result was Cubs 14, Pirates 9, and after a considerable offensive effort, they have now won 82 games on the season, they are 32 games over .500, they have won yet another series, and with 5 games remaining they have matched my wins prediction for the month.

By the way, a couple of weeks ago Peter Gammons wrote a blog speculating about whether or not Geovany Soto was MVP material. At this point, he's got to be the sure-fire bet to be the Rookie of the Year. Tonight, he went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 7 RBI. He's now got 20 homeruns on the year and he's driven in 78. With a month to play, while I think he falls short of being the National League MVP, he is without a doubt one of a few Cubs who has been absolutely essential to their success so far.

The Cubs will gain a game on the Cardinals tonight, who are currently being torn to shreds by the Brewers, and they play for a road game sweep tomorrow. Oh, and one final thought for you before you go: so far in the second half, Chicago is 13-5 on the road, and they're 12-1 in their last 13. Just incredible.

I went to the game tonight, and brought along the goat camera. See Kurt's write up for the game recap. Here's the pics.

Geovany Soto fouls one off. See that white streak? That's the baseball.


How many White Sox does it take to catch a pop fly?


Carlos Quentin - swing and a miss!


Javier Vazquez couldn't get the ball over the plate tonight.


Aramis Ramirez' bat is too hot to handle right now.


Aramis Ramirez rounds third base after his fourth home run of the series.


Bobby Howry came in to mop up after eight great Ryan Dempster innings.