CHICAGO — A year ago, Geovany Soto had nine home runs and 38 RBIs by the end of May. Entering Sunday's night game against the Dodgers, the Cubs catcher has one homer and 12 RBIs.
Soto is hitting .215 for the season and has rebounded from a dismal .109 April.
He's batting 21-for-75 (.280) this month. And he has a way to go.
"Soto's slowly been getting better," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I don't know where the power has gone, but as far as the at-bats, as far as starting to get hits a little more consistently, I think he's getting better there. The power, we're talking about one home run the first of June."
Soto did have some problems with his right shoulder at the end of Spring Training, and Piniella acknowledged the catcher isn't gunning down basestealers the way he did last season en route to winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
"He's not throwing as well as he will," Piniella said. "The weather's been cool. I think when it warms up, it will help him some."
That's what the Cubs want to see is improvement in Soto's sophomore season. Early Saturday, Soto was working with coach Matt Sinatro on his throws to second.
"He's been getting better in all phases," Piniella said. "We'd like to see the power come. I wouldn't force it — I'm not saying for him to swing for home runs. I thought coming into this season, he was very capable of hitting 20."