Cubs catcher Soto won't catch any heat here

Let's take a break from hammering the Cubs during this dismal season and say something nice about them for a change: Geovany Soto.

Yes, the same catcher whose fielding gaffe cost the Cubs a victory Saturday.

As of Sunday night Soto can play for me anytime. Actually more like all the time judging by how Cubs manager Lou Piniella used him against the Phillies over the weekend.

Soto responded to his misplay the game before with a 2-run home run in his first at-bat the game after, igniting the Cubs' 11-6 victory.

"He came back and had a good game," Piniella said.

The Cubs won the four-game series 3-1, and Soto played every day at baseball's most demanding position.

Yes, in the heat. Yes, in the humidity. Yes, in all that catcher's equipment.

Piniella conceded that he probably wouldn't have used Soto in the series' finale if it started at 1:20 p.m. instead of 7:10 p.m.

"We'd have probably given him a day off," Piniella said. "I asked him after the game (Saturday) and he said he'd be ready to go. He's a tough kid."

Catchers are supposed to be tough. But they have to be tougher when the weather is like Chicago's has been this month, even when it's allegedly "cooler by the lake."

The break Soto received Sunday night was the game-time temperature being 86 degrees instead of in the 90s earlier in the day.

Some break, huh?

"It comes with the territory," Soto said. "Wearing that gear and trying to perform at 100 percent - that's where the work in spring training and the off-season comes in."

Maybe it took Soto awhile to understand that. He came into spring training of 2009 overweight and out of shape, not to mention testing positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic.

Soto went from Rookie of the Year in '08 to sophomore chump in '09. His production dropped so dramatically that his future became hazy.

Now Soto's renaissance season has him back close to where he wants to be and the Cubs need him to be - batting .286 and massaging the pitching staff.

Soto also can be a bit of a leader of which this team is in short supply.

Other players are cheating if they loaf, while Soto plays four straight days in the heat, and if they ignore that he rallied with a home run, single and 3 RBI after a costly mistake the previous day.

"Being home in Chicago, you have to prepare for all those factors," Soto said of day games, the weather and scrutiny. "Sometimes you're sore but once the game starts the adrenaline kicks in."

Ironically, Piniella replaced Soto often last month with backup Koyie Hill. Now as the weather and starting catcher have heated up, the hot starter prevails.

Soto considers it a compliment that Piniella is reluctant to take him out despite the exhausting conditions.

"It's flattering," Soto said. "I'll take every game he gives me. You keep hydrating every inning, drink plenty of fluids, do anything you can to keep from cramping."

Soto estimates that he loses "2 or 3 pounds of water" per day in this weather, "more in early games than night games."

If the Cubs start scheduling morning games, Geovany Soto can play for me in those too.

mimrem@dailyherald.com