Finally -- more than four months after it happened -- the Cubs and Alfonso Soriano are admitting that something's wrong with his knee:
Alfonso Soriano said he will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee later this month after manager Lou Piniella shut him down Friday.
"Lou said it's not good to play on one leg," said Soriano, who had cortisone shot in the knee Sunday. "I was 80 percent, but now I'm down to 50 or 60 percent. I play with my knee on my mind, and I'm scared to get hurt. If we're out [of it], it's better to do the surgery before we go to the Dominican [for the off-season]."
The cleanup surgery would sideline Soriano for two weeks, so depending on when he undergoes the procedure, he could miss the rest of the season.
Two weeks. One stint on the DL; that could have been done in mid-May. That's when the knee injury, suffered sometime in April when Soriano ran into a wall at Wrigley chasing a fly ball, started to bother him and he stopped hitting. All of us watching him play could tell he wasn't running at full strength either on the bases or in the field, and it finally -- way too late -- became painfully obvious on Thursday when he couldn't plant his leg and dropped A.J. Pierzynski's fly ball at Wrigley, helping to blow that game open.
As Lou said in the article linked above, it's great that Soriano wants to get out there and help the team win. But if he's hurt, FIX IT! This could have been done four months ago and he'd have been out there at full strength by June.
The article also notes that Derrek Lee should return for today's game, after missing two games for the birth of his second child, a boy. Congratulations to the Lee family.
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Go figure on Nelson Figueroa. The Cubs made him look like an All-Star last Sunday at Wrigley Field, but in general he should be eminently hittable. Aramis Ramirez is 5-for-12 with a HR lifetime off Figueroa.
Similarly, who can figure out Rich Harden? He had been outstanding since the All-Star break -- until he walked about every Astro in sight last Monday at Wrigley Field. He has no W-L record in two career appearances (one start) vs. the Mets; current Mets are hitting .180 (11-for-61) against Rich.
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Discuss amongst yourselves.
0 recs | 38 comments
huh...1st?
daily2b - September 5, 2009
Just another
fine move this season. This just makes you wonder what in the hell was going on. He was by his own accounts playing at 80% since May, then 50-60%, Wow. Someone should have told Soriano that the Cubs will provide the finest doctor, it is 2009 where knee scopes and procedures can be done with positive results, this is not getting a knee surgery in Kabul.
Just a mess.
Grockcubs - September 5, 2009
Someone please post the Facepalm picture
Ab\nd dedicate it to the Cubs management..
eswan9 - September 5, 2009
Done. Cubs Management, this one's for you!
Goodie1969 - September 5, 2009
A smile spreads across BCB's Worf
gaclaudy - September 5, 2009
You owe me a quarter!
Worf - September 5, 2009
Yep
not happy that they’re telling us this now. It bothers me that they knew he was hurt, he wasn’t performing, and still kept trotting him out there. It makes me wonder if they had him checked out so they knew he wasn’t making it worse playing on it.
chitownhawkeye - September 5, 2009
Of course, if the Cubs were winning, and on their way to a Division title
I assume many here would be applauding the “gutty performance” of Soriano who played most of the year on one knee.
San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - September 5, 2009
If he were performing well
and the team were winning, probably.
If the team were winning, but he was struggling, then no.
chitownhawkeye - September 5, 2009
Oh please. He has been very bad almost all year.
Al is right, this should have been done long ago. This another example of decisions or nonaction that defies reasonable explanation. What is the point of your post? Just to say something negative about posters here?
BleedsbluinMI - September 5, 2009
I understand what he is saying
that people who have been ripping Soriano, may not notice that he put the surgery off wanting to help the team, instead of shutting down. This is a perfect example of “six of one, half dozen of the other”
Cubbie-Tim - September 5, 2009
It's not six to one, half dozen to another
Sori shows up with a good attitude and wants to play. As a professional, he and the coaching staff need to recognize when the trying to play through an injury hurts the team more than what the upside of him staying in is. There are 3 weeks left in the season, it took too long. There have been posters on here asking this question for a long time.
This black and white, you are either for a player or against him in bs. I can root for Sori and the team and question lineups and decisions at the same time.
BleedsbluinMI - September 5, 2009
exactly
we are losing so people will be negative about him not being selfish and wanting to help (or for some, trying to earn his contract). Knowing now that he has been playing on one wheel gives me a little more respect for him as a person.
Cubbie-Tim - September 5, 2009
+100
Defending Lou in this space has become like trying to hold back the tide. I am awash in the futility of it.
Second-guessing is always easier than making a decision when there are no good alternatives. Second-guessing always works, because whatever was decided becomes the cause of the failure.
vonde6 - September 5, 2009
typical mismanagement by Cubs management
VegasCubFan - September 5, 2009
Such a shame
This series should have mattered so much more when the schedules originally came out….
ak123 - September 5, 2009
Breaking News!
You needed Lou to tell you that?
Goodie1969 - September 5, 2009
Apparently Lou does need to tell hm that.
Remember Soriano was the one who said “The grass was too big” and that was the reason he missed the AJ’s pop fly.
bigz38fan - September 5, 2009
And give him 24 hr notice
that playing on 1 leg is bad
chitownhawkeye - September 5, 2009
No TV today! Whoo-hoo!
San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - September 5, 2009
For some reason, the picture of Nelson Figueroa is not showing up on my screen
so I’m offering up a picture of another Nelson that more accurately captures the mood of today’s game
ballhawk - September 5, 2009
For this assessment...
Goodie1969 - September 5, 2009
2legit2quit!!!!!!!!!!!
lexmarklover - September 5, 2009
Lou
I understand that the pitchforks-and-torches crowd wants Lou fired at this point.
If there is anyone else who still supports him, I would like to hear a shout out.
However, what I would like to hear from the “Fire Lou” crowd is who they would replace him with, and why they think that person would do a better job.
vonde6 - September 5, 2009
I kind of support him
I support him so far as that he isn’t totally to blame for the bad year. He has done plenty of mismanagement but the players haven’t helped him much easier. Bases loaded situations with no runs scored have been a trend for the year. Putting Miles in instead of Fox doesn’t help that situation. But two batters come up after them and they aren’t doing anything either.
kevinbreit - September 5, 2009
a younger person with younger ideas
such as 1) making out a lineup based on quantifiable productivity instead of what side of the plate a guy bats from, 2) eschewing bullpen matchups in favor of a balanced use of relievers, 3) leaving in a reliever who’s getting the job done, and 4) continuing to teach, remind, and refine players when it comes to the value of getting on base.
CaliCub - September 5, 2009
Lineup via twittermeyer
Dome
Riot
Big Daddy Lee
Ramirez
Milton
Baker
Scales — IN LEFT!
Hill
Harden
Worf - September 5, 2009
Scales — IN LEFT!
interesting
Cubbie-Tim - September 5, 2009
I'm going to keep saying it
There is no way Lou and Hendry didn’t know Soriano was hurt. They hoped to ride it out and then Ramirez got hurt and they really felt stuck.
I realize it’s fun to blame Sori for “hiding” an injury, but it just doesn’t wash.
Worf - September 5, 2009
um... he really didn't do a good job of 'hiding' it, did he...
ballhawk - September 5, 2009
This is our year song
Could they stop playing that song on the radio. I have no problem with the song, but it mocks us.
kevinbreit - September 5, 2009
If a player has a career-ending injury...
…is the club still on the hook for the balance of the contract?
ronsanto10 - September 5, 2009
No one's injury is career-ending
Worf - September 5, 2009
yes
sometimes clubs will take out insurance policies that cover those sorts of situations, in which case the insurance company would pay out.
ballhawk - September 5, 2009
baseball contracts are guaranteed
santoswoodenlegs - September 5, 2009
I wonder if we'll win today.....
santoswoodenlegs - September 5, 2009
First
Looks like Fiueroga has that TOm Seaver stuff again today
shifafaontheside - September 5, 2009
JUST WATCHING SORIANO RUN ....
on the bases shows something is wrong . Gotta agree that Lou and the coaching staff had to know . ( Unless they all need vision checkups)
cubs north - September 5, 2009
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