Something that would have seemed a ridiculous joke just a week ago now seems like a real possibility: Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella is intimating that he may move Alfonso Soriano to second base in order to get Micah Hoffpaiur in the lineup regularly.
Manager Lou Piniella said before Thursday’s game that he has one more move up his sleeve to try to wake up his slumbering, slumping lineup. But he called it ”a measure of last resort.”
Four hours and five hits later, Piniella may have reached that last resort, which would be moving left fielder Alfonso Soriano to second base and putting .314-hitting Micah Hoffpauir in left.
”Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that,” he said before Adam Wainwright took his turn shutting down the Cubs, this time 3-1 in a nearly hitless, sleepless sweep at Busch Stadium. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Soriano hasn’t played second base regularly since 2005 (though he had a couple of emergency stops there for the Cubs the last two years). But until Aramis Ramirez comes back, this is not a terrible idea.
At worst, he commits an error per game, but something has to be done. Would the upgrade in bat from Mike Fontenot or Aaron Miles to Micah Hoffpauir make up for that difference? Maybe so.
While we’re at it, how bad can Jake Fox – the hottest hitter on the planet – really be at 3B?