Chicago Cubs: Is Jorge Soler stepping up his game?

Jorge Soler has gotten off to a slow start with the Chicago Cubs this season, but he has recently started to show flashes of his potential.

The Chicago Cubs were able to overcome their recent offensive woes with an 8-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.  But the win also came with an injury to right fielder Jason Heyward, as he laid out to make a spectacular catch, hurting his torso in the process.

Jake Arrieta was terrific as usual, but there was another Cubs’ player who shined on Friday night–Jorge Soler.

Soler started his day with a single to center field and would eventually score on a Jake Arrieta RBI single.  One of Soler’s biggest weaknesses has been his inability to judge and make contact with breaking balls, but in his last few games, he has shown improvement.

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It’s no secret that Soler isn’t as defensively talented as the Cubs would like him to be, but in the bottom of the sixth inning, Soler made a fantastic catch at the wall in left to rob Giants’ catcher Buster Posey of an extra-base hit.  We don’t often get to see Soler flash his glove, but he had an all-around solid night in the outfield.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN just posted this update:

In the eighth inning, Soler sent a 404-foot bomb out to left-center for his third home run of the season.

Even in the wake of losing Kyle Schwarber for the season, we’ve really only seen Soler play when the matchups are favorable, but that could potentially change.  After the game, Joe Maddon had some encouraging words regarding his right fielder.

“I don’t care about the home run at all,” Maddon said according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “It has nothing to do with how excited I am right now. Everything else I saw, I saw a major league baseball player out there. That’s what got me excited.”

Next: MM: Cubs win; Heyward injured

We all saw what Soler did in the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals.  The potential is undoubtedly there.  With a long road ahead and obstacles to overcome, the Cubs will count on Soler to tap into that potential and give the offense an extra shot of adrenaline.