POLL: position that you'll enjoy watching most this year

[nathanKent]

Pick the position that you think you'll enjoy watching most this season and tell us why. Note: not a specific player, but the entire depth at that position.

[wrigleybum]

Catcher.

Will Soto prosper?? Will he look like the catcher of the future.

Or will we have to turn to other teams/farm system?

The catcher position could turn out to be a huge highlight or a lowlight of the season.

Either way though, any production from that position is better than last year.

[nathanKent]

For me it's catcher. My two guys from the past two years, Marshall and Murton, aren't on the roster, so I feel the need to pick a new young player to cheer for. Soto is more exciting to me than Pie or Hill. He'll be learning the position from one of the best, and on his off days we get to watch the best (defensively, anyways). Blanco's blocked ball today in the 2nd reminded me just how much of an asset it is to have a true defensive catcher.

I think catcher is also the position we'll see the most improved play from last year too. Kendall was downright painful for me to watch, Rob Bowen was painfully boring, and I can't think of words to describe watching the Michael Barrett trainwreck unfold. The homer in me loved watching Koyie Hill, and Soto was brilliant at the end. Mostly though it was just bad. And this year stands to be the exact opposite.

[nathanKent]

Catcher.

Will Soto prosper?? Will he look like the catcher of the future.

Or will we have to turn to other teams/farm system?

The catcher position could turn out to be a huge highlight or a lowlight of the season.

Either way though, any production from that position is better than last year.

Beat me to it.

[Bob Sacamento]

For me the most exciting position to watch day in and day out is the centerfield that Felix Pie will patrol. The youngster is going to make some bonehead plays (misfielding a slow grounder, misthrow a cutoff man, over/short run alley balls, etc). Yet for the ground that he can cover plus his RFer arm, Pie is going to make for some interesting rundowns in the alleys that he'll be able to turn into double plays as well as making the ground that Alf and Kosuke have to field minimal.

On the other spectrum, the position I'm watching with the most uncertainty is SS. Time and time again that I've watched Ryan Theriot in Spring, he misses balls just outside of his two step range. In the instances, I've seen him field those balls, his weak arm allows for infield singles often. And in the lineup, leadoff?!!!! This makes less sense than batting Alf there, with the leadoff spot you want either someone who can work their way on base for the run producers or one of your best bats who can get more plate appearances. A team with no real leadoff hitter has to be constructive. In my opinion the Cubs would be better off with Soriano leading off rather than Theriot. Theriot should be at the bottom of the order where his sacrificing skills come into handy. Still Ryan shows good technique and ability to work counts, which make him an excellent bench option or potential lineup setter in Lou's eyes.

As for catcher, the position is Soto's to lose and even if he struggles with the bat, which my line for him is .725 OPS (and I'll be very happy) than he's still better with his bat than anyone else we have. As long as Soto is fielding most of his in dirt pitches while making runners think about advancing then no problem.

[Scartissue]

And in the lineup, leadoff?!!!! This makes less sense than batting Alf there, with the leadoff spot you want either someone who can work their way on base for the run producers or one of your best bats who can get more plate appearances. A team with no real leadoff hitter has to be constructive. In my opinion the Cubs would be better off with Soriano leading off rather than Theriot. Theriot should be at the bottom of the order where his sacrificing skills come into handy. Still Ryan shows good technique and ability to work counts, which make him an excellent bench option or potential lineup setter in Lou's eyes.

I was going to do a detailed post of spring training, but work isn't letting up (damn job has a way of getting in the way of things I enjoy). One of the things I wanted to point out is that Theriot's hitting .329, but only has a .347 OBP. Not a good OBP for leadoff, where you really hope to see at least .370. That's 2 BBs in 70 ABs. He's not going to make contact at that clip for a whole year, and when he doesn't, his OBP will be really ugly (by the way, Cedeno's quietly hitting .327, and he's also slugged .564 and drawn one more walk in 15 fewer ABs).

I don't want to make too much out of spring training, but the differential between OBP and AVG is one thing I pay attention to in spring. Although contact can come and go in spurts, drawing walks is more predictable. Lee's horrible spring still has his OBP/AVG differential at a healthy 90 points. Even when Fukudome's contact was poor, he drew walks all spring, finishing with a differential of 145, very encouraging (but his talents will be grossly misused by Lou). Guys like Soriano, Pie and Cedeno, who aren't expected to draw walks, have the kind of differential you would expect. Now I'm not saying Theriot's differential of 18 points is what to expect for the year, but I will say it will likely be in the 50 to 60 points at best. To have an acceptable OBP for a guy that doesn't have power, hitting leadoff, he's gotta hit .310 or more to be considered good, which is very unlikely.

I'm looking forward to catcher the most. We haven't seen a regular catcher with Soto's potential in awhile. Despite a poor hitting spring, he's gunned down 7 out of 23 runners, for about 30%. That's decent enough to make stealing bases a losing proposition for opponents. Also, Soto's drawn a good number of walks this spring. I expect Soto to hit almost as well as Barrett in his better years, while playing a lot better defense. Blanco is having a solid spring (throwing out a third of the runners). This is one of the best catching tadems we've had in awhile.

[nathanKent]

(by the way, Cedeno's quietly hitting .327, and he's also slugged .564 and drawn one more walk in 15 fewer ABs)

He got hot in the last two weeks. Before that it had been business as usual for Cedeno. I'd like to know if this is him breaking out or just a fluke.

[wrigleybum]

A fluke probably. I remember watching him during Spring Training in 2005, and being very, very impressed, thinking he was on the cusp of making the team, and could breakout the next couple of years.

It's now 2008, and he has barely gotten better.

[Scartissue]

He got hot in the last two weeks. Before that it had been business as usual for Cedeno. I'd like to know if this is him breaking out or just a fluke.

If I remember correctly, Cedeno played more in the last two weeks, so it's not unfair to consider his spring. Also, I'd rather see a guy heat up than cool down going into the season. In any event, it's not about the actual hitting in spring. Heck, if spring training were to determine the rosters, DLee would get cut. I was merely pointing out Cedeno's stats because people will justify Theriot's starting position with what he's done in spring, but that doesn't hold water because Cedeno's spring has been even better this spring.

[nathanKent]

If I remember correctly, Cedeno played more in the last two weeks, so it's not unfair to consider his spring. Also, I'd rather see a guy heat up than cool down going into the season. In any event, it's not about the actual hitting in spring. Heck, if spring training were to determine the rosters, DLee would get cut. I was merely pointing out Cedeno's stats because people will justify Theriot's starting position with what he's done in spring, but that doesn't hold water because Cedeno's spring has been even better this spring.

I think people can justify Theriot's starting position entirely on Cedeno being the alternative.