Theriot made his Cubbies debut back in ‘05 but only played in 9 games. In ‘06 his MLB career started to look more promising playing in 53 games. In those 53 games he had 134 plate appearances and put up a .328 Avg. and .412 O.B.P. In 2007 Theriot made the opening day roster as a utility player. He played in six different postions in ‘07 but snagged the reins at shortstop fulltime from the struggling Cesar Izturis; which later led to Izturis being traded that July.

In 2008 Theriot finished sixth in the National League with a .307 average and ranked fourth in the Major Leagues with 58 multi-hit games. He led the NL with 154 singles.

Theriot has a career .259 average in the final month of the season and Piniella has said he’d like to have him take a few more days off to stay fresh; so look for Miles to be the one giving Theriot a breather. Usually you might see the substitution on days the Cubs lineup would face a lefty (due to A.Miles switch hitting ability), but Theriot is just as good vs. Left handers as he is Right, and nearly as good on the road as at home in ‘08.

vs.Left: .305 vs.Right: .308
Home: .310 Away: .304
Day: .302 Night: .311

Theriot’s downfall is his lack of power. Last season, among all SS with at least 500 plate appearances, he finished last (19th) in HR, RBI’s and 2B.

In my opinion “The Riot” may be one of the more underappreciated shortstops in the MLB. Theriot has managed back-to-back seasons with at least 80 runs and 20 stolen bases. That’s mostly thanks to his .362 career on-base percentage (.387 in 2008) and his position as a top-third-of-the-order hitter (he batted first or second 120 times last season). Some have said at 29, Theriot may be running out of time for growth; yet he has consistently improved his numbers over the last 3 years with the Cubs. No, he may not be a big name in baseball (other than with the Cub faithful) but I predict that he will be among the top 10 all around shortstops statistically in this upcoming ‘09 season.

As I’d hoped and expected, Theriot is lighting it up in pre-season spring training. In 8 games, he has 21 plate appearances, 10 hits and just 1 strikeout. He has led the Cubbies with a .520 OBP and a .476 AVG.

The Pinkie’s 2009 Projections: