Alfonso Soriano was one of the more interesting players of the 2000s and early 2010s. He played a bunch of positions hit a bunch of homers and didn’t get on base much. His career numbers of .270/.319/.500 with 412 homers and 1159 RBIs and 1152 runs scored aren’t terrible. He also stole 289 bases in his career.

In his first phase from 2001-2005 he was a speedy second basemen with a lot of power. He hit .282/.322/.503 with averages of 105 runs, 190 hits, 41 doubles, 3 triples, 33 homers, 97 RBI’s and 35 stolen bases. Then in 2006 he exploded, switching too left field he hit .277/.351/.560 with 46 homers and 41 stolen bases. Yes Alfonso Soriano is a 40-40 man, joining A-Rod, Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco as the only players to accomplish this feat. Soriano is the only one among them to not be accused of steroid use in the 90s.

After that year he signed a massive contract with the Cubs and was overpaid for the rest of his career. He still hit for power averaging 34 per 162 but his speed, 13 stolen bases, and slash rates, .263/.317/.497 were down. We have to ask ourselves is was Soriano’s 2006 a fluke. The simple answer is yes, but if we dive deeper he had 39 homers and 41 stolen bases in 2002 and 38 and 35 in 2003. All he needed was a little more of each. His slash stats were also not rare he hit at an average of .281 of that year and the year before and after 2006. His OBP was boosted by 16 intentional walks and 9 HBP. So Soriano had a really good peak year. Thanks for reading.