Sojo Puts Up a Solid Defense When Compared to Predecessors

Luis Sojo heard the question often, and he wasn’t sure how to respond.

Could he hit well enough to succeed Johnny Ray, who batted .300 three times in his career?

“Everybody said to me, ‘How do you feel to replace that guy?’ I just say I don’t worry,” said Sojo, who batted .225 in 33 games for Toronto last year and was acquired by the Angels in a six-player trade in December. “I try to help the team win every day by doing what I know how to do.”

Sojo, a native of Venezuela, didn’t have to worry about playing second base in Ray’s shadow. Ray’s defensive range seemed best measured in inches.

The Angels used eight players at second base last season, the most of any infield position, and Ray committed seven errors for a .987 fielding percentage. Released after the season, he went to Japan, with the Angels paying part of his $1-million salary as an incentive for a Japanese team to take him.

Sojo’s defensive skills have been impressive, particularly at a position he began playing regularly only last season. His error on Felix Fermin’s 11th-inning grounder Friday night played a role in the Angels’ 4-2 loss to Cleveland, but his contributions easily outweigh the five errors he has made in 63 games.

His offense also is beginning to pick up. Sojo was seven for 20 on the team’s last home stand at a time when many of the Angels are in a dreadful slump. He begins the Angels’ 10-game trip tonight with a .238 average, his highest since he was at .246 May 5.

He has a team-high 13 sacrifice bunts. Sojo has learned that to help his career he had to bunt a lot.

“Bunting like that is something you can’t teach,” Angel hitting instructor Deron Johnson said.

Sojo learned to play second base for the Blue Jays’ triple-A Syracuse team last season after playing shortstop for 2 1/2 seasons. He was named to the International League All-Star team by the end of the season. Then he led the Venezuelan Winter League in batting with a .362 average after the Angels acquired him, Junior Felix and minor leaguer Ken Rivers for Devon White, Willie Fraser and minor leaguer Marcus Moore.

“When I signed to play professional baseball, they see I don’t hit home runs. They tell me I’ve got to get hits and hit the ball to right field,” said Sojo, 25. “Every day I work on bunting for base hits and on sacrificing. Every year I get 30, maybe 35 hits that way, and it helps. . . .

“Last year, Toronto wanted me to play everywhere--shortstop, second base. In Venezuela I took ground balls everywhere. I take ground balls at shortstop now, because you never know. In 1988, I won the MVP of the league (for Class-A Myrtle Beach of the South Atlantic League), then they tell me I had to move to second base. I didn’t want to. Last year was different. I was in triple A and I say, ‘OK, I’ll move to second base, but if I play 10 years in the major leagues, I want to play shortstop.’ But they want me to play second base in the big leagues. When I was traded, I said, ‘Where am I going to play?’ I play left field, I play second base. I played second base in winter ball in Venezuela, and I stayed there.

“Now I feel comfortable at second base. I don’t worry any more because I can do everything real easy. Last year, I had trouble with double plays because the angle is real different. Last year, the first month I made nine errors on double plays, but after that month I make only one error. The first month was unbelievable. Every time I get the ball for a double play, people think, ‘Uh-oh, something is going to happen.’ I just wanted to throw as fast as I can. This year, it’s different.”

His trouble at the plate, though, led him to play only against left-handers for a while. A hamstring pull in May also limited his playing time.

“It’s hard when you know you can play and you don’t have a good start,” said Sojo, who went through a nine-for-60 slump that dropped his average to .200 June 17. “I know I can play, and I know I can hit the ball. I want to play, but they explain to me what’s going on. I’ve got to learn. I’m a rookie and nobody’s perfect. As soon as I learn the little things, I’m going to be an everyday player.”

Johnson lauded Sojo’s efforts to learn those little things.

“Nobody knows his capabilities until he gets it all together. He knows what he’s got to do, and he’s working hard at it,” said Johnson, who is trying to keep Sojo from lunging at pitches. “He’s a good kid, a hard worker.”

The motivation for Sojo is simple.

“I just want to win. Five years I am in professional baseball, and every year we win,” he said. “In Venezuela I played four years and we go to the finals two years. In the Dominican (where he played in 1986), we win. I like to win. . . .

“Everybody wants to play every day, but I’m happy because I’m here. That’s a dream come true already.”