Royals Authority

Joakim Soria Needs To Start

By Craig Brown | January 15th, 2008

“Joakim Soria is Mexican tough.”
– Buddy Bell

God, I love that quote. I really have no idea what it means, but I love it. After all, what exactly is “Mexican tough?” Is it better than being “Raytown tough” or “Overland Park tough?” Is Justin Huber “Australian tough?” If he is, that must not be all that great considering he can’t sniff the lineup.

Joakim Soria was last year’s gem in the Rule 5 draft. Despite being a member of the Dodgers organization from 2002 to 2004 and the Padres organization in 2006, he was largely unknown. Probably because in his career before joining the Royals, he had thrown a total of only 16.2 minor league innings.

Scouted by Louis Medina in the Mexican Winter League, he loved Soria’s tools and his maturity. “Most Rule 5 picks have high ceilings with a learning curve,” Medina said in an interview with Baseball America. “I don’t see much of any learning curve with this kid. From what I saw, it looks like he can handle major league hitters.” Soria was a starter when scouted and finished the winter with a 9-0 record with a 1.77 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

The plan at the beginning of 2007 was expected: The Royals would protect Soria by keeping him in the bullpen and using him in low-pressure situations. But in life, and in baseball, things happen and plans change. In this case it was an injury to closer Octavio Dotel that moved Soria to a more prominent role. Initially, he was going to pitch in a set-up role, but after David Riske blew a two-run ninth inning lead on the first Sunday of the season, the Royals seemed to sour on the idea of Riske as an interim closer.

That meant Soria would get the ball in the ninth inning.

Soria didn’t have the best start as a closer. He saved 10 games, blew three save opportunities and lost two games when he entered with the score tied. From April 10 (the date of his first save) to May 22 (when Dotel returned from the DL and Soria went on the DL in an unrelated transaction - more on that in a moment) Soria had a 4.12 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. The whiffs were nice, but he was a little wild and he was prone to giving up hits (singles mostly) at the most inopportune times.

When Soria went on the DL with shoulder inflammation at the end of May, the Royals were simply being cautious. He had felt some discomfort - nothing thought to be serious, but the team didn’t want to take any chances and they decided to shut him down for 15 days. It turns out it wasn’t that big of a deal: Five days after landing on the DL, Soria threw 30 pain-free pitches in a bullpen session.

When he returned to the roster, he assumed the role as a set-up man for Dotel. This was where he really began to shine. From June 8 to July 27, Soria threw 21.2 innings, allowing only 11 hits with four walks and 26 strikeouts. His ERA as a setup man was 1.25 and he limited his opponents to a .145 batting average and a .188 OBP. He often pitched the eighth inning in games where the Royals held the lead, or would come into a game in the seventh if runners were on base. He did well in that role, allowing only one out of eight inherited runners to score.

After the trade that sent Dotel to the Braves, Soria settled back into the closer role - and he was brilliant. From August 1 to the end of the season, Soria had a 2.55 ERA while limiting hitters to a miniscule .174 average and stranding all seven runners he inherited. I’m not a fan of the save stat, but it should be noted that of his 9 saves over the last two months, three of them were “old school,” meaning he went more than one inning in those appearances.

It was an outstanding debut season for the Rule 5 draftee, and one that exceeded the expectations of everyone in Royals management.

So everything is in place for Soria to be the Royals closer again in 2008. But here’s my problem - I don’t like that role for him.

Personally, I’d like to see Soria moved into the rotation as the fourth starter. Here’s my rationale:

— He’s started before with great success. Yes, the Mexican League isn’t on par with the AL Central, but his performance last winter (including his perfect game) is a sign that he has the stamina, the ability to go deep into games and the potential to dominate.

— Besides, the closer role is overvalued. Consider the games Soria saved last year: In 6 of his 17 saves, he entered the game with a three run lead. That’s not meant to demean his season - it’s just a fact that the save stat is misleading when measuring the value of pitchers who traditionally pitch in the ninth inning.

But my reason for bringing that nugget to your attention is that it often doesn’t matter who pitches the ninth inning - if you have the lead that late in the game, you often get the W. For example, last year the Royals lost four games in which they held the lead in the ninth inning. The Cleveland Indians also lost four games where they led after eight innings. And that was with Joe Borowski (5.07 ERA) as their closer. Yet the Indians won 96 games while the Royals only won 69. Why? Because most ballgames are decided well before the ninth inning. In other words, the majority of the time it’s the starters who decide games.

You want more proof? The worst Royals team in history (2005) lost only three times when leading after eight. In 1999, the Royals bullpen had a 5.77 ERA, yet they only lost six games when starting the ninth inning with a lead.

I used similar arguments before about Zack Greinke. Sure, he needed to go to the bullpen to work out his issues and get his head back in the game. And it turned out, he did exceptionally well pitching in relief - better than any of us expected. But he needed to return to the rotation because that’s ultimately where he is the most valuable to this team. Using a pitcher with his talent for only an inning or two at a time is borderline criminal.

And I think we can say the same about Soria. He has an amazing arsenal of pitches (a plus fastball with a lot of life, cutter, slider, occasional curve and a plus change) and has shown a maturity on the mound that is beyond his years. He misses bats, striking out 9.8 batters per 9 IP, and he has the ability to work out of jams, limiting the opposition to a .197 batting average with runners in scoring position. As long as he understands the importance of the economy of pitches and has the stamina to throw 100 pitches a start, he seems an ideal candidate for the rotation.

It would be a shame if the Royals kept him in the bullpen where he’s less valuable to the team. Unfortunately, that looks like the direction the Royals are headed in 2008. In a recent interview, Dayton Moore said that beyond the first three starters, competition for the rotation was wide open and mentioned Kyle Davies, Luke Hudson, Luke Hochevar, Jorge de la Rosa, Leo Nunez and even John Bale as possible candidates.

Besides, let’s be serious for a moment. I get the Dayton Moore philosophy that he expects to win… Now. That probably explains the rationale behind the Miguel Olivo and Ron Mahay signings - those guys aren’t exactly building blocks for the future. But still, the Royals are heading toward a finish in the lower half of the division. The front office should be focusing on hitting and starting pitching - a good bullpen can be cobbled together a thousand different ways.

For a team struggling to reach .500, your best young arms belong in the rotation. Especially when you have a talent like Soria, just waiting to take the ball every fifth day. Who knows though… Things might work out. Hideo Nomo could be a surprise in the rotation and turn out to be “Japanese tough.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Joakim Soria, Player Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

37 Responses to “Joakim Soria Needs To Start”

Brandt says:

January 16th, 2008 at 12:48 am

Craig are you saying he should start the year off as a starter? Because I just don’t see that. I know the Indians closer has so many saves but was also had a high ERA and batting average against. I believe its happened like that a lot but that it doesn’t happen very much in 1 season. I take that kind of season from a pitcher happens once a season as far as saves go. I just think that you saying the closer position is overated. I don’t believe that at all. I believe it takes a certain kind of pitcher to be a closer. One with a lot of confidence, short memory, good stuff, and a deceptive delivery. Soria has all of those things above all of the other pitchers on the Royals roster. Why would you put another closer in his place and place Soria as a number 4 or 5 starter. I believe a good closer is more important than a solid number 4 or 5 starter.
Chief says:

January 16th, 2008 at 5:02 am

Great article, Craig. This one is sure to draw some comments.

Soria may be under-utilized as closer, but I know how good I felt about late-inning situations when he came in to pitch. Those good feelings may be blinding me to what he could do in a starter’s role.

However, if he were to become a starter, it could not be as a regular, right? He only pitched 69 innings last year, and I think his max before that was 70 (someone have the authentic number?). If you are only supposed to pitch 20% more innings over your lifetime max, that means less than 100 innings - about half a full workload for a starter.

So, for at least part of the year, we would be without Soria as both a starter AND a closer. That’s not good.
K.Martin says:

January 16th, 2008 at 6:24 am

Let’s face it…starting pitchers like the W’s in their stats. Fans love the W’s in their stats. For the mental aspect of the game, starters need confidence in their pen to nail down the W for them when he hands them the ball with a slim lead in innings 6 through 8. A closer with excellent stuff provides most of that confidence. I’m salivating at the thought of Soria in the starting rotation but until you can find an equal replacement Soria needs to stay where he is for both his tangiable and intangiable value to the team.
kcghost says:

January 16th, 2008 at 6:25 am

Last year was the first time in who-knows-how-long that Royals fans could show some confidence in a lead being turned over to the bullpen. And for whatever goofy reason major league relievers seem to function better when they have an assigned role.

There is no doubt that one of the reasons the bullpen did better last year was the improved starting pitching. Relievers weren’t being worked to death and Buddy seemed to glom on to a good idea. If the Royals were in the game he aggressively used his good relievers and if they weren’t he used the weaker ones. That may be the only bit of cleverness I ever observed Bell do.

I am okay with Soria spending another year in the bullpen though he has to be projected as an eventual starter. At age 22 he is still in the dreaded “injury nexus” and maybe another year or two of coddling isn’t a bad idea.
Carp says:

January 16th, 2008 at 6:52 am

I think now would be a good time to move Soria into the rotation. Instead of spending money on Lieber to fill in the rotation spot for a year or two, sign Dotel again to one year deal. I think this is better for the Royals for threereasons: One, Soria has more upside as a starter; Two, Dotel is better at his trade than Leiber is; and Three, relievers seem easier to move at the deadline allowing the Royals to pick up another quality young player again.
Craig Brown says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:03 am

Brandt - There’s a 0% chance that Soria begins the season in the rotation. And if (or when) they ever decide to move him, they better do it and not jerk him around like they’ve done guys like Affeldt and Gobble.

Chief - I completely get what you’re saying about the increase of innings and it’s a good point. I couldn’t find any innings numbers from his time in the Mexican League last winter. Maybe the way you get around it is to shut him down in September once he hits a certain number of innings.

K.Martin and kcghost - Agree with you both on the confidence point. But I’m thinking if the starters (with Soria) can limit the damage and if our hitters come around and score some runs, the rest (the bullpen) will take care of itself.

Carp - That’s what I’m talking about. It can be Dotel or any other former closer (or set-up man) with something to prove. Do it now instead of in two years when you’re seriously contending.
Jonathan says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:04 am

Great article - I’m a believer that Soria should stay put in the ‘pen, but this piece was definitely persuasive for the other side.

I agree with what most everybody else is saying. It’s been years since I’ve had the confidence and comfort in the late innings that I did this year with Soria in the closer’s role. While closers are sometimes overvalued, I do not think that is the case in this situation yet. Where would the franchise be if Soria went “Lidge on us” and we lost 100+ games again because he couldn’t seal all of his saves? And who else is going to close for us? Closer by committee with Braun, Mahay and Yabuta? Has that worked for ANY franchise? Ever? And besides, there IS risk involved if Soria were to move back to the rotation. Yes, he looks to have the stuff, but he’s never started in the majors, let alone at a high minor league level. What if he’s a borderline bust and we waste half a season shifting him around and trying to build his stamina? Blowing saves all the while? And like others have said, could we even give him that heavy of a workload his first season?

To preserve both Soria’s arm (and allow him to possibly move back into the rotation in ‘09 or 2010) as well as the mental state of our young, re-loading franchise, I think we need the bullpen stability and keep Soria’s awesome presence as closer for at least 1 more year. I’m all about shifting him to the rotation once we have more proven bullpen depth and can risk not only losing a great closer, but failing the SP experiment, but until then, let’s keep using this young gun as we did in ‘07, keep him fresh and contributing, and see what opportunities arise in the near future.
Zack Daddy says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:52 am

I don’t think either situation is a bad choice. It’s a win-win.

If Soria can pitch the 8th and 9th, it’s an even BETTER situation.

Seems that I read somewhere that Soria only has two solid pitches. Am I wrong about that? Starters need more when they face hitters the third time thru.
Mike Williams says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:59 am

Somebody needs to agree with your premise - and I’m that somebody.

This move will probably happen, just perhaps not until mid year, once it becomes clear we are out of the race, or perhaps not until next season.

To answer critics as to why this is a crucial topic, look no further than Johan Santana. The Twins broke him in in the pen, albeit as more of a set up guy, and then a long reliever, and then finally as a starter.

Critics need to ask themselves one question: How silly would it have been for Minnesota to say Santana is thriving in the pen, let’s make him our closer?
Dan Scott says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:14 am

Great article Craig. I agree Soria eventually belongs a mainstay of our rotation but I don’t really have a problem with them coddling him some considering his age and the low number of innings he’s thrown.
Max says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:25 am

Great post Craig, I totally agree. Closers are totally overrated, as you correctly point out. And Soria is not #4 starter material, I think he has the potential to be much better. That is worth way more than a closer, even a good one.

I think people tend to overrate closers because blowing a ninth inning lead is so dramatic - it tends to stick in our minds a bit more. It causes fans to say “if we had a good closer, we would have won so many more games!” But it doesn’t happen very often as you point out, and even the best closers still blow games once in awhile.

Its much more important to have a guy like Soria in the rotation so that you can have a lead going into the ninth inning more often. You will win many more games with that approach, in my opinion.

Anyway, great post, I linked you at Baseball Think Factory and Royals Review, so I hope it starts good conversations there. Keep up the great work.
David says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:57 am

Zack Daddy brought up a good point. Does anyone know about Soria’s other pitches aside from his fastball and breaking ball? Are they starter quality? Perhaps he succeeds in the bullpen because his top two pitchers are so dominant, but if you put him in the rotation, he struggles. There are a lot of pitchers out there like that. Many of the most dominant closers were failed starters because of this very problem (Nathan, Rivera, Gagne, Jenks, KRod, Isringhausen, and I’m sure I’m missing more).
Craig Brown says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:13 am

Jonathan - The reason I’m thinking you move him to the rotation for 2008 is if for some reason it doesn’t work, the damage is minimal. And as overrated as closers are, the “closer by committee” just doesn’t work. It’s a mental thing, though.

Zack - I think he’s got four solid pitches and a borderline fifth that he can use. It might take some work, but I think he has enough.

Mike - Santana is the gold standard, especially considering that like Soria he was a Rule Five guy.

Dan - Why wait? I say move him now and immediately begin to reap the benefits.

Max - We’re on the same page. As for Soria at #4, that’s my way of slowly breaking him in - you can skip him for a turn if you want and hopefully he won’t be squaring off against a Beckett or Santana too often. Thanks for the linkage… I’ll be sure to check out those discussions as well.
Craig Brown says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:19 am

David - Here’s what Louis Medina had to say about Soria’s pitches:

“He has a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a slider, a curveball that he uses sparingly and a 60 changeup (on the 20 to 80 scouting scale) that he will throw in any count.”
Jonathan says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:42 am

Craig - I was bringing up closer by committee because I feel like that’s what the Royals would have to go with in ‘08 barring another ‘pen signing or the emergence of Braun, Musser or Yabuta as a consistent closer.

But like you said, trying Soria as a starter to start ‘08 does minimize the damage if it’s a failed experiment. And the more I think about it, the more I agree that his potential upside (hell, his “reasonable-to-expect” contribution) as a starter far surpasses his value as a closer. It’s a shame GMDM isn’t talking about stretching him out for the Spring at least to see what he’s got.
steve says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:51 am

Can someone please recheck the stat about the Royals losing so infrequently when they have the lead after 8 innings? I just don’t see how that matches up with us leading the majors with over 20 or 30 blown saves for a couple of years, but saying in Craig’s article that we only ever had less than 5. To me, what usually happens with a blown save is to go to the 9th inning with a lead and lose it, and I would say it was more likely that we recovered and still got the W only 4 or 5 times, rather than we came back and overcome the blown save 25 our of 30 times. That does not sound like the Royals that I know and love, at least not back in those dark days. Thank you.
Mike Fast says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:54 am

I like the idea of moving Soria to the rotation. A good pitcher has more value in the rotation because he can pitch 200 innings instead of 70 innings, even if 40 of those 70 innings in the bullpen are high leverage.

Soria also has four good pitches. He didn’t use his changeup, slider, and curve that much in the bullpen, but they all look like major league quality pitches. The curveball is his strikeout pitch, used for over half his strikeouts. Neither righties nor lefties can make contact with it. 59% of the time he put the curve in the strike zone, he got a swing and miss, and he does a fair job of throwing it for strikes.

I looked at Soria’s pitches in detail here:
http://mvn.com/mlb-stats/2007/12/13/tales-of-the-cutter-an-analysis-of-joakim-soria/
Max says:

January 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am

Can someone please recheck the stat about the Royals losing so infrequently when they have the lead after 8 innings? I just don’t see how that matches up with us leading the majors with over 20 or 30 blown saves for a couple of years, but saying in Craig’s article that we only ever had less than 5.

Blown save is such a misleading stat. “Blown saves” counts games in which a reliever blows the game in the sixth inning. It counts games where we come back and win. It counts twice where we blow a lead in the 6th, come back, and blow it again in the 8th.

Only a few times do teams blow games in the 9th.
Jonathan says:

January 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am

Pretty sure this just happened - Lieber just signed with the Cubs. I’m kind of disappointed in this, as I like Lieber a lot, he eats innings, is a salty veteran, and would have been the perfect stopgap for a 1 or 2-year deal. Would MUCH rather have seen him than El Gourdo, Benson, or even Davies/DLR/et al
Carlos says:

January 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am

Hah, el Gordo.
Dan Scott says:

January 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

Yup, it’s official. One year contract. Lieber will make $3.5 million with another $4 million in possible incentives. I’m a little disappointed too as I was more interested in him than a lot of the other candidates.
David says:

January 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

Thanks Craig. I wasn’t asking to be argumentative. I was legitimately asking because I really wasn’t sure, but it seems like he has the tools to start. Thanks for the great answer.
Craig Brown says:

January 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

David - I didn’t think you were being argumentative. It’s a good point so I figured the best way (because I don’t know for certain myself) is to quote the scout who recommended him. :)

Steve - I think Max addressed your concern, but I’ll throw in the link I used for my research. It’s at Baseball Reference PI, which needs a subscription, but this might work even if you don’t (they were offering a free trial for a while):
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/inning_summary.cgi?year_game=2007&team_id=KCR

Guys, I can’t recommend this enough - CLICK ON MIKE FAST’S LINK. It’s an incredibly detailed analysis of Soria’s PITCH f/x. Outstanding.
Matt says:

January 16th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Don’t think his arm can take the innings. I believe he had injury problems all through his minor league career. If I had my BA 2006 Prospect Guide handy, I’d be more sure.
MtRoyals says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:06 pm

It’s easier to win when your entire rotation isn’t filled with guys with one question mark or another. It’s easier to win when your best pitchers are pitching most of the innings. And if Soria only pitched 100-135 innings this year? So what? He’ll be good for 175-215 in 2009, which is a much, much more important year for the Kansas City Royals than 2008. And imagine what he’ll be able to do after he’s a full-fledged starter. I can’t believe so many people would rather have a Mariano Rivera getting meaningless saves than a Johan Santana winning Cy Youngs.
MtRoyals says:

January 16th, 2008 at 7:51 pm

K-Rod is not a failed starter.
MtRoyals says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

There’s not a write-up on Soria in the ‘06 Handbook.

From ‘07: “Several teams were interested in trading up to get Soria in the major league Rule V draft at the 2006 Winter Meetings, but the Royals held onto the No. 2 overall pick and claimed him for themselves. Having pitched just 16 2/3rds innings in the United States since the Dodgers signed him as a 17-year-old in 2001, he was tought to evaluate. He missed all of 2003 recovering from Tommy John surgery, got released in 2004 and spent most of the last two seasons pitching in the Mexican League. The Padres bought his contract from the Mexico City Red Devils in December 2005, then loaned him back to the club in 2006. Soria generated a buzz by going 8-0, 2.02 in the winter Mexican Pacific League before the Rule V draft. He works off an 89-93 mph fastball with late movement, and he can locate it to both sides of the plate. He also flashes a plus changeup and keeps both pitches down in the strike zone. His curveball is average, though he’ll sometimes fly open in his mechanics and leaves it up. Soria, who threw a perfect game in his first outing after Kansas City selected him, has to stay on the major league roster throughtout 2007, or else clear waivers and be offered back to San Diego for half his $50,000 draft price. That shouldn’t be an issue, and he should stick with the Royals as a swingman.”

It’s really too bad we didn’t keep him as a swingman. He could have pitched more innings that way and it would be easier to project him as a starter in 2008 and beyond.
Patek to Rojas to Mayberry says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

Every team needs a stopper who can protect a slim lead in the late innings or bail the team out of a jam. The Royals are no exception. A young team simply can’t afford to consistently blow leads late in games, even if they are out of postseason contention. The “Here we go again…” negativity takes its toll on veterans as well as on the young guys. One only need look back to Royals teams of recent years (2007 excepted) as prime examples.

That said, I believe the sooner KC moves Soria into the rotation and builds up his arm to where he can pitch 180+ innings/season, the better. He isn’t going to build up his arm in his current bullpen role. Even serving as a long reliever or spot starter would probably not give him the requisite innings, but putting him in that role for a few months may be a good way to segue into a full-time rotation slot. And as others have noted, once he reaches a certain number of innings for the season, in August or whenever, the team can shut him down.

I know GMDM wants to put the best possible team on the field in 2008 and wants to win some games. He probably feels that Soria is the best closer option he has. But we mustn’t lose sight on the long-term development of the team. And for the long term, developing Soria into a potential front-of-the-rotation starter is something that needs to be done. I think most folks reading this thread will agree.

It’s hard to believe the Padres had 40 guys in their organization who were more talented (or whom they felt they needed to protect more urgently) than Soria. Thank goodness the Royals have scouts like Louie who will find those hidden gems and pluck them. The talent level in the Royals organization is still not where it needs to be, and we need a few more great draft selections like this one in order to make up the difference between the status quo and where we all want to be.

Some December in the future, when the Royals have a situation where their “Number 41″ man is someone of Soria’s upside, and they face a dilemma in which they cannot avoid exposing a player of that caliber to the Rule 5 draft no matter what they do, then they truly will have made some major strides in terms of building the organization’s overall talent level. This past December, the Royals didn’t lose anyone in the Major League phase of the draft. That’s both good and bad…good because they held onto their players, but bad because the other 29 teams didn’t deem any of the unprotected, eligible players to be draftworthy.

Off-topic but related…Just because a team has the talent doesn’t mean the team will be able to make use of the talent. Case in point: Several years ago (I want to say it was the year when the Royals acquired D.J. Carrasco), if I remember correctly, the Pirates lost several players (six or so) in the Riule 5 draft, and a good number of them were lost in the Major League phase. My (rhetorical) question is, if a team has enough unprotected talent that they end up losing several players in the Rule 5, why can’t that organization win at the ML level?
Patek to Rojas to Mayberry says:

January 16th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

FYI to those reading…MtRoyals’ post (#27) and mine (#28) were being written at basically the same time, and I didn’t see his post until after I submitted mine. His post is excellent and it somewhat addresses some of the points in my post.
Chaim Mattis Keller says:

January 16th, 2008 at 9:58 pm

>>Blown save is such a misleading stat. “Blown saves” counts games in which a reliever blows the game in the sixth inning.

Not true. It only counts situations in which the reliever entered in a save situation (and left with that situation no longer present), so it can’t be any earlier than the 7th.
Lenny says:

January 17th, 2008 at 4:30 am

I absolutely LOVED watching Soria pitch last season. For the first time in ages I didn’t feel like it was a forgone conclusion that we’d lose within minutes of the closer coming in (I’m looking at you, MacDougal & Burgos!). That being said, I couldn’t agree with you more, Craig. I was saying this last season to anyone who would listen, which was usually no one. I think Soria should be given every chance to start. Dotel is available, and there are any number of other guys who could get the same shot Soria did. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have comparable success?

Among all the candidates to fill the 4 & 5 slots, I think Soria is the one who gives us the best chance to win.
Mike Williams says:

January 17th, 2008 at 7:29 am

Chaim, I think you are mistaken. A pitcher can get a 4 inning save by coming into the game in the 6th, so he could also be charged with a blown save if he yields a lead in the 6th.
Craig Brown says:

January 17th, 2008 at 7:34 am

Matt - I don’t think injuries are a concern. The TJ surgery was years ago when he was with the Dodgers and his trip to the DL last summer was unrelated. He seems fine now.

MtRoyals - If Soria emulates either Riveria or Santana, I’d be thrilled. But like you said, I’d take Santana over Riveria.

Patek - Excellent comment. About the Pirates and the Rule Five: Without looking at who they lost, it’s entirely possible management protected the wrong guys. That was the worst run organization in baseball for a few years.

Chaim - You can blow a save prior to the seventh. Last year, Bale blew one in the sixth:
http://mvn.com/mlb-royals/2008/01/15/joakim-soria-needs-to-start/

Since the starter has to go 5 innings for a win, a save situation could exist from the sixth inning onward.

Lenny - It was a blast watching Soria last summer. He was my favorite guy on the staff.
Jonathan says:

January 17th, 2008 at 8:33 am

Speaking of how much fun we all had watching Soria (he was my favorite pitcher in the ‘pen as well) late in games reminds me the first time I saw him in a “big” save situation in person last season. I live in Boston and, as usual, attended the entire Royals series at Fenway this year. Each of our two wins had Soria getting a hold, and each time ignorant Sox fans would heckle me with “who? Joe-kim who?” when he was coming into the game and I just sat their laughing confidently to myself.

As we all know, we won those two games and took the series.

Suckers.
Matt says:

January 17th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Injuries are a big concern. I don’t think he had a minor league season without spending time on the DL.

I contend that he wasn’t healthy in the month of May before he went on the DL. Maybe he was just had a tired arm, but he gave up more hits and more/equal runs and had fewer K’s than any other month of the sesaon. Could have just been a bad month. Sample size is very small, so there really isn’t anything that can be truly pulled from the numbers, but I’m going to do it anyway since he was pretty dominate in the other months. The Royals did it right by putting him on the DL and keeping him in the pen.
Jeff P. says:

January 21st, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Well I personally would much rather watch Soria start 32 games than Tomko. I think Soria will thrive in whatever role KC puts him in.
Mike says:

February 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm

The 69 innings that Soria worked last season is the most that he’s ever pitched in one full professional season. I just don’t see stretching him out from that, to well over 150 innings pitched if he were to become a starter for the Royals. He is very effective doing what he did last year, and the Royals should keep him in that spot — to slam the door on opponents, and give KC fans someone they can feel confident about when the ninth inning rolls around in a close game.

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