Fonzi Picks On Little Guys

During Tuesday's night's game, the fourth straight in which Alfonso Soriano homered, Len Kasper mentioned his ChicagoNow blog post that purportedly statistically showed that Soriano is demonstrating better patience at the plate so far this season.

But sometimes statistics can deceive. Could the increased number of pitches Soriano has seen be attributed to the horrible pitching staffs the Cubs have faced early in the season? Is he facing pitchers who are regularly falling behind in the count?

The $136-million man seems to get his hits in bunches and his hot streaks seem to coincide when the North Siders face Triple-A caliber pitching.

Soriano, since joining the Cubs, has feasted against the weaklings while struggling against heavyweights.

So far, Soriano has faced six of the worst seven staffs in the National League. He is hitting .467 against Arizona which ranks 15th in ERA, and .400 against Houston, which ranks 10th. Entering Tuesday's game 11 of his 26 hits and four of his six homers came against the Diamondbacks and the Astros.

Soriano's splits against opponents in his previous three years with the Cubs illustrate a feast-or-famine pattern, depending on the level of the opposition.

Last year, Soriano hit .357 against Detroit and .354 against the Reds. His averages dipped considerably when facing Milwaukee (.184), Cleveland (.143), the LA Dodgers (.130), Florida (.115), and Minnesota (.083).

In 2008, he dominated the likes of Arizona (.429), Pittsburgh (.417), and San Diego (.355) but disappeared against Milwaukee (.216), Houston (.214), Philadelphia (.194), and New York (.143).

In 2007, Soriano thrived against the Dodgers (.433), Atlanta (.414 with five homers in seven games), Pittsburgh (.382 with eight homers in 15 games), and Cincinnati (.361 with five homers in 14 games). He struggled against Florida (.185), Seattle (.133), the Mets (.115), and Diamondbacks (.091).

Soriano may be more patient at the plate this season, but we won't know for sure until we see how he does against a larger sample size that includes a better array of pitchers.