1983
Born January 20, 1983
San Juan, , P.R.
Geovany Soto Marquee
b. January 20, 1983 · Chicago Cubs 2005–2012, Texas Rangers 2012–2014, Oakland Athletics 2014, Chicago White Sox 2015, 2017, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2016
He hit .285 with 23 home runs and 86 runs batted in for the 2008 Cubs, made the All-Star team and took the award with 158 points of 160 and 31 of the 32 first-place votes. Chicago won 97 games that year, the most it had won in almost a century.
He hit .218 the next season and never again matched the power or the average of his rookie year, though he had a second useful season in 2011. Thirteen seasons gave him 619 hits, 146 doubles, 108 home runs, 361 runs batted in and a .245 average.
He is from Puerto Rico and caught for five clubs across the back half of his career, mostly as a backup. His brother Gabby caught briefly in the majors as well. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 2008 |
| MLB Players Choice Outstanding Rookie | 1 | 2008 |
| Rookie of the Month | 1 | 2008 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 2008 |
| The Sporting News Rookie of the Year | 1 | 2008 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | CHC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 2006 | CHC | 11 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .200 |
| 2007 | CHC | 18 | 54 | 12 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 0 | .389 |
| 2008 | CHC | 141 | 494 | 66 | 141 | 35 | 2 | 23 | 86 | 62 | 121 | 0 | .285 |
| 2009 | CHC | 102 | 331 | 27 | 72 | 19 | 1 | 11 | 47 | 50 | 77 | 1 | .218 |
| 2010 | CHC | 105 | 322 | 47 | 90 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 53 | 62 | 83 | 0 | .280 |
| 2011 | CHC | 125 | 421 | 46 | 96 | 26 | 0 | 17 | 54 | 45 | 124 | 0 | .228 |
| 2012 | CHC/TEX | 99 | 324 | 45 | 64 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 39 | 30 | 76 | 1 | .198 |
| 2013 | TEX | 54 | 163 | 20 | 40 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 22 | 20 | 60 | 1 | .245 |
| 2014 | OAK/TEX | 24 | 80 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 0 | .250 |
| 2015 | CHW | 78 | 187 | 20 | 41 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 21 | 63 | 0 | .219 |
| 2016 | LAA | 26 | 78 | 11 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 0 | .269 |
| 2017 | CHW | 13 | 42 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .190 |
| Career | — | 797 | 2522 | 308 | 619 | 146 | 4 | 108 | 361 | 311 | 673 | 3 | .245 |
On this day & linked events
2005
Major-league debut: Geovany Soto
Geovany Soto made a major-league debut on September 23, 2005.
2017
Final major-league game: Geovany Soto
Geovany Soto played a final major-league game on May 7, 2017.