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Soriano Starts Season in Lead-Off Spot, Fukudome 2nd, Theriot 8th
By Dan Zinski
Lou Piniella is making good on his threat to start the season with Alfonso Soriano in the lead-off hole and Kosuke Fukudome batting second. The full line-up for Monday’s opener against the Astros:
Soriano, LF
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Ramirez, 3B
Fontenot, 2B
Soto, C
Theriot, SS
Zambrano, P
Lou goes with Milton Bradley in the clean-up spot and Aramis Ramirez 5th. He preserves the lefty-righty alternation by having Mike Fontenot bat behind Aramis and Geovany Soto bat 7th. One nice advantage to this line-up, at least when slugging Carlos Zambrano pitches, is the pop down at the bottom. Unfortunately, you still have Soriano leading off, which I think is a mistake. But, Lou’s the manager and I’m the blogger. We’ll give it a few weeks and see how it works out.