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[tag]Felix Pie[/tag] was called up Tuesday, and made his first big league start, for the ailing Alfonso Soriano. So far, in 2 games, Pie is .200/.273/.500 with a double and a triple and an RBI. He even gunned down a go ahead run at the plate in the 10th inning in his first game Tuesday.

As great as it is for the [tag]Chicago Cubs[/tag] top organizational prospect to be up in the bigs, their OF, when Soriano becomes healthy again, will be somewhat crowded. The cubs have Soriano, Pie, Matt Murton, Cliff Floyd and Jacque Jones. That leaves the question of Pies’ remaining in Chicago, somewhat up in the air once Soriano gets back. I just read an article over at Baseball Prospectus, that gives Cub’s GM, Jim Hendry, 5 ways to trim the fat and keep Felix Pie up in the majors all season.

In a recent comment, slider asked about the CF position battle for the [tag]Florida Marlins[/tag]. It’s really down to 2 choices, [tag]Eric Reed[/tag] and [tag]Alex Sanchez[/tag]. Let’s look at projections for both guys and then I’ll throw out a few comments.

Eric Reed - .248/.289/.340 4HR 24SB
Alex Sanchez - .280/.314/.341 2HR 9SB

I could be another week or so until the decision is made, but right now Reed seems to have the edge. Let’s look at the spring 2007 numbers now.

Eric Reed - 29AB 13TB 5K 1BB 0HR 1SB .379/.400/.448
Alex Sanchez - 35AB 10TB 4K 1BB 5SB .171/.194/.286

Other than in the stolen bases category this spring, Reed is putting some distance between himself and Sanchez. I think right now, the job is Reed’s to lose. Reed is going to bat low in the batting order, so don’t expect power numbers or runs. But he could be a sleeper to get you some stolen bases from the bottom end of the lineup.

You can also check out Marlins Today. They have a fantastic serial post that they call Becoming the Centerfielder ‘O Meter. It’s fabulous and it’s updated frequently, so keep an eye on that.

Tim, over at Roto Authority, attended a First Pitch Forum recently and was privy to some promising [tag]Hunter Pence[/tag] comments.

“Hunter Pence is probably the best CF the Astros have. He has a decent chance of taking over once Biggio gets his 3,000.”

70 hits seems like a long time to wait for Pence’s bat in that lineup. If he makes the big club prior to taking over for Biggio I can see the Astros finding many ways for Pence to get AB’s.

For the first time in his professional career, [tag]Shane Victorino[/tag] is going to be given the opportunity to patrol the [tag]Philadelphia Phillies[/tag] outfield for a full season. Why should you be thinking Victorino, who’s a corner OF with no pop? Well, he’s the fastest guy on the team. And new hire base coach Davey Lopes thinks Victorino could swipe 30+ bases this season. He’s notched 40+ SB’s twice in his minor league career, so there is some history of success there.

If you’re a projections kind of rotohead, None of the big projection systems agree with my above statement. Bill James is the most gracious towards Victorino giving him a projected 2007 line of:

Victorino - .266/.319/.401 12HR 11SB in 538 AB’s

Take the good vibes from Lopes above with the bad news from Bill James with a grain of salt. Just don’t take Victorino in your draft just yet. But you’d better keep an eye on him on the waiver wire. You don’t want to be the bozo who didn’t grab this guy in April if he shows his wheels are for real.

Here are the [tag]top 10 fantasy outfielders[/tag].

1. Alfonso Soriano
2. Carlos Beltran
3. Carl Crawford
4. Vlad Guerrero
5. Lance Berkman
6. Carlos Lee
7. Matt Holliday
8. Grady Sizemore
9. Manny Ramirez
10. Jason Bay