Geovany Soto
Encyclopedia
Geovany Soto is a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
.
Professional career
Selected by the Chicago Cubs 318th overall in the 11th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft2001 Major League Baseball Draft
-First Round Selections:-Supplemental First Round Selections:-Background:The Minnesota Twins selected St. Paul, MN native Joe Mauer with the number one pick in the 2001 draft. The 18-year-old Mauer, a catcher from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, became the seventh Minnesotan to be...
, he made his major league debut on September 23, 2005, against the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. He was recalled by the Cubs on July 12, 2007, but only had 1 hit in 7 at bats. In September 2007, when the Cubs expanded their roster, he joined the team again. This was mainly because, in the minor leagues that year, he batted .353 with 26 home runs and 109 RBI and was named the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
's MVP while playing for the Iowa Cubs
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs are a Triple-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, that plays in the Pacific Coast League. Their home games are played in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Park.-Franchise history:...
. After his call-up in September, Soto had an average of .389. Soto started for the Cubs during the 2007 playoff series against the Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
. In game 2 of the series, Soto hit a home run into the left field bleachers at Chase Field
Chase Field
Chase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in , just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game as an expansion team...
, giving the Cubs an early 2-0 lead. The Cubs ended up losing that game, but it further solidified him as the Cubs' full-time catcher going into 2008, with Jason Kendall
Jason Kendall
Jason Daniel Kendall is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He is the son of former catcher Fred Kendall, who played in the majors from 1969–1980.-High school:...
moving on to Milwaukee as a free agent.
2008
Arguably the best offensive performance in Soto's young career came April 30, 2008, in a rout against the Brewers. Soto hit two 3-run homers to account for 6 of the Cubs' 19 RBIs, only a few days removed from a two-game stretch against the NationalsWashington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
in which he struck out in 8 consecutive at-bats. Soto was voted the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Rookie of the Month for April 2008 after hitting .341 with 5 home runs, 8 doubles, and 20 RBIs, with an OPS
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
of 1.059. On May 19, 2008, he scored his first career Inside-the-park home run
Inside-the-park home run
In baseball parlance, an inside-the-park home run, "leg home run", or "quadruple", is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of play.-Discussion:...
against the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. Soto led the early stage of the voting process for the National League's catcher in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 79th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, home of the New York Yankees, on...
. He was selected to be the National League's starting catcher in the game. Soto became the first rookie catcher ever to start on the National League All-Star team. Soto is the first Cubs' All-Star rookie to play in the game with at least 14 home runs since Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corrales is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985...
did it in 1987, surpassing the mark when he hit his 15th home run on July 6, 2008. He went 3 for 5 with 7 RBIs in a game on August 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
.
As a rookie catcher, Soto called a no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
game from behind the plate to pitcher Carlos Zambrano
Carlos Zambrano
Carlos Alberto Zambrano is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. Zambrano, who stands 6' 5" and weighs 260 pounds, was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1997 and made his debut in 2001...
in a game against the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
on September 14, 2008. Played at Miller Park in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
due to Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
moving through Houston, this was the first no-hitter in major league history pitched at a neutral site.
After the 2008 season, Soto was honored with The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award was established in 1946 by The Sporting News .*In 1947-48, and again in 1950, a single award was given for all of Major League Baseball....
and the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award for the National League. Soto is the first Cubs' backstop to play for multiple Cub playoff teams since Gabby Hartnett
Gabby Hartnett
Charles Leo "Gabby" Hartnett was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played almost his entire career in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs. Until the career of Johnny Bench, Hartnett was considered the greatest catcher in the history of the National League...
, and is the first to start playoff games in consecutive years since Johnny Kling
Johnny Kling
John Kling was a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs , Boston Rustlers & Braves , and Cincinnati Reds .-Early years:John Gransfield Kling was born and raised in Kansas City, the son of John and...
. Soto also won the Pedrín Zorrilla Award, receiving unanimous support during the voting process. Orlando Cepeda
Orlando Cepeda
Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes is a former Puerto Rican Major League Baseball first baseman.Cepeda was born to a poor family. His father, Pedro Cepeda, was a baseball player in Puerto Rico, which influenced his interest in the sport from a young age. His first contact with professional baseball was...
was contacted to present the award, traveling to Puerto Rico for the ceremony.
2009
Soto was unable to live up to huge expectations in 2009, only posting a .218 batting average and 47 RBI. In June 2009, Soto was revealed to have tested positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic2009 World Baseball Classic
The 2009 World Baseball Classic was an international baseball competition. It is the only international baseball tournament to feature a large number of players from the major leagues of North America and Asia. It began on March 5, 2009, and finished March 23, 2009.Japan emerged victorious for the...
. While the MLB did not take any disciplinary actions, the International Baseball Federation
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation is the worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the bat-and-ball sport of baseball at the international level...
has banned him from playing internationally for two years.