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Royals’ star, Joakim Soria needs a name
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By Tyler Kepner
March 8, 2011
The open locker is the ultimate status symbol in a baseball clubhouse. The veteran star typically gets an empty stall adjacent to his regular locker, for extra storage space and the chance to spread out. At the Kansas City Royals’ spring training complex, there is only one obvious choice.
It is the closer, Joakim Soria, a two-time All-Star at 26 and, with first baseman Billy Butler, probably the team’s only impact player in his prime. The Royals’ identity is their rich crop of prospects, led by the infielders Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. But their most identifiable major leaguer, Soria, is changing his image.
This is a good change, though, and a relatively rare chance to celebrate an athlete for social awareness. Soria, who is from Monclova, Mexico, has dropped his nickname, the Mexicutioner, because of its violent connotations.
“When you got a nickname like that, I know probably on the baseball side it’s a good nickname,” Soria said. “But if you saw all the violence in Mexico, it’s really bad. When you’re a public person in Mexico and they see that kind of nickname, it’s a negative nickname. So we have to do something positive and just take it away.”
About a month ago, the Mexican government said that more than 34,600 people had been killed in the four years since President Felipe Calderón took office. Last year’s death toll — 15,273 — was the highest yet, and the government is perceived to be losing the battle against drug cartels.
Soria, who lives in his hometown in the off-season, said he had not personally been touched by the violence. But he was moved to make a plea on his Twitter account (@joakimsoria) on Feb. 22, urging followers to change his nickname.
“I stay there and I love to be there, and I like my town and everything,” he said. “But it’s a little bit of a positive thing from a negative.”
As crass as the old nickname was, it did convey the sense of finality that comes with Soria’s entering a game. Since his first full season as a closer, in 2008, Soria has converted 115 of 124 save opportunities. His 92.7 percent success rate nearly matches Mariano Rivera’s in the same span (93.5).
“He’s arguably the best closer in baseball behind Mo,” said Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur, who shares the other spare locker in the clubhouse with catcher Jason Kendall. “Other than Mo, Soria’s done as much as anybody the last three or four years.
“You can’t put him in Mo’s category, but at the same time, he just throws that cutter: ‘Here you go, you know what’s coming, but hit it.’ It’s fun to watch.”
After Zack Greinke’s trade to Milwaukee and the surprise retirement of Gil Meche in the off-season, Soria is the Royals’ highest-paid player this season, at $4 million. When Francoeur signed (for one year and $2.5 million), he read speculation that the Royals would dump Soria in the wake of the Greinke deal. To the team, though, the idea makes no sense.
Soria’s contract includes three club options, averaging a little more than $7.5 million per season. With nine prospects among Baseball America’s top 100, the Royals say they believe their overhaul will start to pay off next season. Soria is a vital building block.
“Having Soria in the bullpen settles down everybody else because they know, no matter what, all we’ve got to do is get to Jack and the game’s over,” Manager Ned Yost said, using Soria’s clubhouse nickname. “When you lose Soria and you lose that kind of presence in the bullpen, it all falls apart.”
The Royals have 15 losing seasons in their last 16, and last year they were 67-95, finishing last in the American League Central. High draft choices have failed, but Soria was a steal in the 2006 Rule 5 draft. Two days after the Royals plucked him from San Diego, Soria pitched a perfect game in the Mexican League.
“It built momentum toward the expectations of him being a good pitcher,” General Manager Dayton Moore said. “But, no, we didn’t expect this. We’re not that smart.”
Soria says he is not a team leader because he is too young and relievers rarely fill that role. But his track record makes him a natural source of curiosity for the younger players, including Jeremy Jeffress, 23, a hard-throwing reliever acquired in the Greinke deal.
“You can tell he’s been in the game for a while and he also knows how to take care of his body,” Jeffress said. “What I’m picking up from him now is how he goes about his game, his routine in the morning. Being a two-time All-Star, you’ve got to be able to look at him and pick stuff up from him.”
Jeffress, a former first-round pick, could benefit from a positive example. He served two suspensions for drug use in the minor leagues — admitting to marijuana use after the first — and faces a lifetime ban with another positive test.
“This game waits for no one,” Jeffress said. “If you can’t get straight, it will leave you behind.”
If he stays clean, Jeffress has the stuff to complement Soria in the late innings. As for Soria’s nickname, Jeffress followed Yost’s lead and referred to Soria as Jack. Soria said he had gotten suggestions, but nothing he really likes.
“I told him I don’t care what he is,” Francoeur said. “As long as he keeps pitching the way he has, he can be whatever he wants.”
MLB News Archive Index:
2011, 2010, 2009
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