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Livan's struggles extend to family
Livan Hernandez doesn't smile as much anymore, doesn't laugh as easily and certainly hasn't been pitching as well. This, of course, is totally understandable. How could Hernandez's mind possibly be clear when his father, Arnaldo, is dying of pulmonary cancer in a Havana hospital? Politics caused Hernandez, 26, to leave his homeland. Now politics shackle his heart anew, keeping the 1997 World Series Most Valuable Player from making the trip home that any son deserves to make. "I think it's been playing on his mind," San Francisco third baseman Russ Davis told me. "He hasn't been the same Livan, bouncing around all the time. I'm sure it's extremely hard for him, not being able to go home and see his dad. Just the uncertainty of things must be so tough." After winning a career-best 17 games last season, Hernandez has struggled most of this year, especially in the month since he learned that his father, the original El Duque, was ailing. Overall he is 3-5 with a 7.09 ERA. The pitcher's older half-brother, Orlando, is suffering through a similar nightmare with the Yankees. El Duque is 0-4 with a 5.11 ERA. This from a brother combo that took an 85-64 big league record into this season. "I know the news hit Livan hard," the pitcher's agent, Juan Iglesias, told me. "There's not much you can do. We've talked about it several times. He goes up and down. He tries not to think about things he can't control. It's in God's hands." Livan relies on phone updates from his older sister, Yamile, who still lives in Cuba. "Concentrating is the issue," Iglesias said. "I think there were probably a couple games he was a little out of the ordinary. He'll never blame [his struggles] on that; it's not his nature. I personally think [Arnaldo's illness] would have to affect him somehow, but Livan has always been very professional whenever he's been tested."
Second to noneThose who object to bestowing top rookie honors on a seven-time Japanese Pacific League batting champion such as Ichiro Suzuki might consider Alfonso Soriano instead.Not only has the Yankees' rookie made a seamless transition to second base, but the product of the Japanese minor leagues is showing the hitting and base-stealing skills that made him a constant trade target the past few years. "Alfonso is easily one of the most talented hitters I've ever had the opportunity to work with," New York batting coach Gary Denbo told me. "He has tremendous bat speed, tremendous feel for putting the good part of the bat on the ball. He has great, what I call, adjustability. When it becomes necessary to adjust to change of speed or the movement of a pitch, he has that ability." With a .290 batting average, two home runs and 15 RBIs, Soriano has been caught stealing just three times in 15 attempts as he vies with teammate Chuck Knoblauch for the major league lead. In the field Soriano has made just four errors and, thanks to daily work with Willie Randolph and Luis Sojo, was showing marked improvement making the pivot. The one knock on the wiry Dominican has been his lack of plate discipline. Soriano had 30 strikeouts and just one walk through his first 159 at-bats, but Denbo insists he isn't concerned. He points out that Soriano is just 23 and has only been playing in the U.S. for two-plus seasons. "There's been some talk about him not drawing walks and so on," Denbo said, "But you know what, for a rookie hitter playing for the New York Yankees, playing at a new position, I'm so pleased with how he's done so far. He's handled himself very well." Denbo agrees with those who say Soriano's hand-eye coordination is similar to that of Expos star Vladimir Guerrero, the best bad-ball hitter in recent memory. Denbo also believes Soriano has made strides with his pitch recognition and patience, despite what the statistics say. "People who saw him play here last year saw him swing at a lot of balls down in the dirt and chase breaking balls and offspeed pitches down," Denbo said. "He hasn't done that this year. He has already improved. ... He's very aggressive right now and we would never take that away from him."
Fear of walkingSoriano isn't the only swing-now, ask-questions-later player in the majors. He has plenty of company among those with at least an outside shot at drawing single-digit walks in 500-plus at-bats.That dubious feat hasn't been accomplished since the immortal Rigoberto "Tito" Fuentes in 1966 (see chart). It has happened just 12 times in the modern era and just three times in the last 84 years.
Other regulars or semi-regulars on the low-walk watch list through six weeks: Red Sox third baseman Shea Hillenbrand (161/1), Dodgers outfielder Marquis Grissom (90 at-bats, no walks), White Sox outfielder Chris Singleton (85/1), Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski (84/1), Mets outfielder Timo Perez (72/1), Angels infielder Benji Gil (81/1) and Devil Rays outfielder Jose Guillen (103/2). Adjustments in the strike zone, inconsistent as they may be, have caused more hitters to swing at pitches earlier in counts. That has cut down on walks in general and made them rarer still for those with little patience to start with. "It's not only the strike zone but the uncertainty of the new strike zone for people," Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski said. "When you're a hitter, you're still trying to learn exactly what's going to be called. You might be offering at pitches you would not if you were sure." All of which points to a late-summer spotlight for Fuentes as his 35-year-old mark weathers its strongest challenge yet. Mike Berardino covers baseball for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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