Coming off the heels of a season where he won the National League Rookie of the Year, it's pretty safe to say 2009 hasn't been even remotely what Geovany Soto imagined it would be. The Chicago Cubs catcher is hitting just .230 with eight home runs and 27 RBI (compared to .285-23-86 last season) and his slugging percentage is down over 100 points. In addition to that, he's also been publicly outed for testing positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic and battled a shoulder injury. When it rains, it pours. Friday, the Cubs were forced to put Soto on the disabled list with a strained oblique, and Cubs manager Lou Piniella estimated that it could keep Soto out of the lineup for a month.
In Soto's absence, Koyie Hill will start and Jake Fox -- who was a catcher in the minors for a few years before the Cubs moved him to try his hand at other positions -- will serve as the backup. It would appear that is only the short-term plan -- the very short term. The Cubs have not made a corresponding roster move, which means they will play Friday afternoon short one player. It also is a tell-tale sign that the team is probably searching for a catcher from outside the organization.
In another move, reliever Jeff Stevens, who came over in the Mark DeRosa trade, has been summoned to take the spot of Kevin Hart, who started Wednesday for the Cubs.
