Odds are Cubs' Soto will rebound again

This is an even-numbered year, so that means good things for catcher Geovany Soto, right?

The Cubs and Soto both hope so.

Since Soto came up to the big leagues to stay in 2008 after his playoff-run heroics in late 2007, his career has taken on an interesting pattern. To wit:

ŸIn his Rookie of the Year season of 2008, he had a hitting line of .285/.364/.504 with 23 home runs and 86 RBI.

ŸIn 2009, it was .218/.321/.381 with 11 homers and 41 RBI.

ŸThe even-numbered success came back in 2010 with a line of .280/.393/.497 as Soto hit 17 homers and drove in 53.

ŸLast year the batting average sank to .228 as part of an overall line of .228/.310/.411 with 17 homers and 54 RBI.

Soto came to spring training looking to be in great shape, but a groin injury slowed him, and entering Wednesday, he had appeared in just two Cactus League games.

This should be an important year for Soto, whom some thought might be traded in the off-season as he'll become a player with five-plus years of service time after this season.

There are plenty of issues behind the plate for the Cubs, and not all of them center on Soto.

Offense, offense:

Don't look now, but Soto ranks fourth all time in home runs among Cubs catchers, with 71. He trails Gabby Hartnett (231), Jody Davis (122) and Randy Hundley (80).

Even with the drop in batting average last year, Soto continued to hit for power. The still-troublesome groin put him on the disabled list last May and most likely cost him a 20-homer season.

The biggest troublesome sign with Soto was that his walk rate dropped from 16 percent in 2010 to 9.5 percent last year. The amount of line drives Soto hit last year dropped about 6 percent, while the groundball rate was up almost 5 percent.

Soto also is 29 years old, and he may have hit his overall statistical peak.

Defense, defense:

Soto has been maligned from a defensive standpoint, but he threw out 30 of 115 runners attempting to steal, a .261 percentage; his career mark is .235.

The Cubs paid extra attention to catching fundamentals in the early days of spring training, with more staff members present.

Last spring then-manager Mike Quade ran most of the catching program. This year the Cubs had catching instructor Marty Pevey working with catchers. New bench coach Jamie Quirk has big-league catching experience.

The future:

It's possible the Cubs will look to trade Soto if they're not in contention as the July 31 trading deadline approaches.

The battle for the backup spot and perhaps the battle to see who will emerge as the Cubs' catcher of the future could get interesting when spring training winds down.

Early, it looked like nonroster man Jason Jaramillo had the inside shot, based on his experience. But leg problems slowed him, opening the door to homegrown products Welington Castillo and Steve Clevenger.

“They're both doing a great job; they both have their things they can contribute,” manager Dale Sveum told reporters in Arizona recently. “They've both been working probably as hard as anybody in camp, and their receiving has been tremendous, calling games, and both can swing the bat a little bit.

“It's going to be a tough call at the end of spring training.”

Both Castillo and Clevenger saw limited big-league action last year. Castillo came up when Soto went on the DL, but Quade inexplicably didn't play him. Clevenger was a September call-up.

The Cubs would like to see Castillo stay healthy.

They're intrigued by Clevenger's left-handed bat and his continued improvement behind the plate. At Class AA Tennessee last year, he had a line of .295/.363/.449 with 5 homers before hitting 3 more home runs at Class AAA Iowa.

It could be they're looking for the next Geovany Soto to emerge while the original is still here.

bmiles@dailyherald.com