Geo Back in Action at Fitch Park

On an injury rehab assignment in Mesa, AZ, Cubs catcher Geovany Soto went hitless in five plate appearances this morning in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training game played at Fitch Park.

Soto, who was seeing his first game action in two weeks after suffering a groin strain in a game on May 10th, was the starting catcher and got five at bats in the game played on Field #2 (there was another game played simultaneously on Field #3), batting third in each of the first five innings. He looked a bit rusty at the plate, bouncing out 5-3 in the 1st inning, popping out to the first-baseman in foul territory in the 2nd, flying out to the warning track in CF in the 3rd, getting called out on strikes in the 4th, and striking out swinging in the bottom of the 5th. Also two Rockies base-runners stole 2nd base while Soto was behind the plate.

As far as the games were concerned, one squad of EXST Cubs and one squad of EXST Rockies played to a 1-1 tie on Field #2, while the other squad of Rockies defeated the other squad of Cubs 5-2 on Field #3.

The games were played simultaneously on adjacent fields, and both games were seven-inning affairs.

Here are the abridged box scores from today’s games (Cubs players only)

FIELD #2

NOTE: Geovany Soto batted third in the bottom of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings.

SQUAD “A” LINEUP:
X. Geovany Soto, C: 0-5 (5-3, P-3, F-8, K, K)
1. Pin-Chieh Chen, CF: 1-3 (K, 3B, K, R)
2. Gregori Gonzalez, 2B: 1-3 (F-7, 1B, P-3, RBI)
3a. Jesus Morelli, DH: 0-2 (4-3, 4-3)
3b. Yaniel Cabezas, C: 0-1 (F-9)
4. Wilson Contreras, 3B: 0-2 (5-3, F-9)
5. Reggie Golden, RF: 0-1 (K, BB)
6. Wes Darvill, SS: 0-2 (K, 4-6 FC)
7. Max Kwan, 1B: 0-2 (F-8, F-9)
8. Blair Springfield, LF: 0-2 (K, P-4)

SQUAD “A” PITCHERS:
1. Willengton Cruz: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 60 pitches (41 strikes), 3/2 GO/FO
2. Rafael Diplan: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 PO, 23 pitches (16 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO
3. Larry Suarez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 17 pitches (9 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO

SQUAD “A” ERRORS: 2
1. 3B Wilson Contreras - E5 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)
2. 2B Gregori Gonzalez - E4 (missed catch allowed runner to reach 2nd base safely on what should have been a 5-4 FC)

SQUAD “A” CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Geovany Soto: 0-2 CS
2. Yaniel Cabezas: 1-1 CS

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FIELD #3

SQUAD “B” LINEUP:
1. Vismeldy Bieneme, CF: 1-3 (3B, 4-3, K, R)
2. Marco Hernandez, 2B: 0-2 (BB, 3-U, 4-3)
3. Brian Inoa, C: 0-3 (K, 4-3, L-4)
4. Brandon May, 3B: 0-3 (5-3, 6-3, L-3)
5. Rafael Valdes, SS: 0-3 (K, 5-3, 1-3)
6. Eduardo Gonzalez, RF: 0-3 (5-3, 4-3, 5-3)
7. Dustin Geiger, DH #1: 0-2 (K, F-7)
8. Xavier Batista, 1B: 0-2 (F-7, 5-3)
9. Dong-Yub Kim, LF: 1-2 (1B, E-6, R, SB)
10. Carlos Romero, DH #2: 1-2 (1B, K, RBI)

SQUAD “B” PITCHERS:
1. Joe Zeller: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 65 pitches (43 strikes), 3/2 GO/FO
2. Starling Peralta: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 29 pitches (18 strikes), 1/3 GO/FO
3. Manolin DeLeon: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 19 pitches (12 strikes), 0/1 GO/FO

SQUAD “B” ERRORS: 1
3B Brandon May - E5 (throwing error allowed batter to reach base safely)

SQUAD “B” CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Brian Inoa: 1-2 CS, 2 PB

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ATTENDANCE: 11

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 80’s