Soriano a pitcher, not a charmer
Dan Kolb was too sensitive and lacked the fastball to be intimidating.
Chris Reitsma seemed too polite and engaging to flick a switch and become a convincing mound menace.
Those won’t be issues with Rafael Soriano.
You want your relievers nasty, seething, with icy glares? You’ve got one.
Soriano may have cracked a smile since he reported to camp Thursday afternoon, but no one I’ve talked to has seen it.
He may have said something like, “I’m just glad to be here,” but no one I’ve talked to has heard it.
That’s fine by me. And I’m betting it’ll be just fine by Braves fans, long as he keeps doing what he did in Seattle. Dominate hitters in a setup role.
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And for those who think he might be afraid since getting creamed in the right side of his head by that Vladimir Guerrero line drive last Aug. 29, the one that ended Soriano’s season and left him groggy into November?Well, ask him about it. But watch the tone.
“I’m not scared of that, I’m no little kid,” he said, and said it convincingly.
Shortly after it happened, he said he asked to see the videotape of the incident (“I wanted to see what happened”) and watched it more than once.
He said he was still woozy or tired or whatever in his first couple of winter-ball appearances, but after he took a couple weeks off per doctor’s orders, he came back and said he felt great in his remaining five or six appearances in winter ball.
“I’m 100 percent, ready to go,” said Soriano.
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