How the Cubs are positioned at catcher

First in a series

Editor's note: As the countdown continues toward the April 6 opener for the Cubs, Daily Herald Sports Writer Bruce Miles will offer his analysis of each position on the team and the key issues facing the club this season.

Q: Should we worry that Geovany Soto will suffer from Rick Wilkins Syndrome and never be the same player, or do you think he'll continue to blossom?

Miles: As long as Geo keeps to his physical fitness routine, he should be fine. Baseball people tell me Wilkins failed to make the necessary adjustments at the plate, especially back then when the strike zone was artificially wide.

Soto has shown no such problems adjusting, and his walks rate was pretty decent last year. Complacency is the only thing that can hurt him.

Q: Is it just me, or does Soto seem mature beyond his years both from calling games to his demeanor in the clubhouse?

Miles: He looks to be a budding leader in a clubhouse that needs all it can get. The pitchers like throwing to him, and he calls a good game. He seems to have it all together for such a young player.

Q: Why in the world would the Cubs let Henry Blanco go? He was a mentor for Soto, he was strong defensively and he was a right-handed hitter on a team now dominated by lefties?

Miles: Insiders tell me the pitchers actually liked throwing to Koyie Hill better than they did to Blanco late last year. The Cubs won't come out and say they felt Blanco's game was beginning to fade, but that's the impression I get. Koyie Hill was a pretty good mentor to Soto for almost an entire year at Iowa in 2007. As it turned out, there really wasn't much of a financial market for Blanco out there.

Q: Paul Bako? Again?

Miles: This one wasn't too hard to predict, and I told Bako that when he asked me how I knew he might be coming back. He bats left-handed, and the Cubs always liked him.

When they let him go, they thought Blanco was a better choice, and Henry gave them four pretty good years, even battling through a career-threatening neck injury.

Q: Do you expect a legitimate battle between Bako and Hill? How do they compare? Who's better defensively? How much will they play?

Miles: From everything I've been told, the competition between Hill and Bako will be legit. In fact, the Cubs are making it known that neither catcher should be counting his chickens just yet. That's as it should be.

Neither catcher will provide much offense, but Hill has the advantage of being a switch hitter.

I haven't seen much of Bako the last few years, but Hill has the respect of the Cubs' pitching staff. He's not afraid to get after a pitcher on the mound. I would expect Soto to play in 140 games.

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