Alfonso Soriano, Gavin Floyd’s luck (reprise) and more

Welcome to the Happy Hour edition of Rounding the Bases. Each week, Tim Heaney takes you around the majors with his spin on fantasy baseball trends, news highlights and player scouting. He welcomes you to join him as he circles the bags at his admirably slow pace.

Out of the box

It’s appropriate to lead things off with a table setter. This dining setup, however, looks pretty empty.

Alfonso Soriano recorded an RBI in back-to-back games heading into today’s action. This wouldn’t seem so shocking in 2003; it’s more of a surprise in 2009 given he couldn’t outrun yours truly and his swing rivals Steve Trachsel’s pre-pitch routine in length.

Soriano says his left knee doesn’t bother him when he swings, and it’s hard to picture Chicago moving him out of his comfort zone in the top spot.

He showed some life by going up the middle and to right-center field, respectively, in his two hits Thursday – the latter delivering the game-winning RBI. Directing pitches to right field ranks atop the coaching staff’s agenda for improving Soriano; maybe new hitting coach Von Joshua can do better work than previous guru Gerald Perry.

Leadoff hitter? Right....

It’s hard to believe the knee doesn’t irritate Soriano, especially when he has such a pronounced lift of his front leg at the plate.

More urgent problems: No steal attempts since June 5 – just two since the end of April. Sure, he converted both, but what good does that do? (In-write update: He looked fleet-footed when he scored the game-winning run.)

Perhaps the knee bothers him when he’s running, too? He can’t run out grounders anymore, which makes his career-worst 36.6 groundball percentage that much scarier.

Then again, I just watched Soriano look composed on a 2-0 fastball in the eighth inning; he drove in a run on a single to left-center. He doesn’t have to go the other way on fat pitches.

Sliding into second

Before you ask about the Toronto Blue Jays‘ closer situation, here’s Bryce McRae’s summary of what happened and what probably will happen in our weekday Closer Hot Seat. I think Jeremy Accardo may get more than his fair share, too, when Jason Frasor needs a rest.

Also, check out my Fantasy Baseball Headlines segment for more on Magglio Ordonez‘s benching and other top stories.

Rounding third

Gavin Floyd has flip-flopped the way luck can affect a pitcher. Last year, his BABIP was at .268 – he had a lot of defensive help to aid in bringing him 17 wins.

The White Sox righty can actually be BETTER than he has been of late. His struggles to start the year may have a source; the team reportedly thought he was tipping his pitches back in May.

Like the Astros’ Wandy Rodriguez did when he discovered his gift to opponents, Floyd seems to have responded (1.57 ERA in June).

His BABIP is around the league average, his groundball rate has increased to 43.2 percent (a plus at U.S. Cellular Field), and he has increased the velocity and frequency of his slider – while picking his spots more often on when to use his low-90s heat.

He seems to have found a rhythm; you’ll probably be able to dance to it all season.

Headfirst into home

Hodgepodge:

• Marco Scutaro should be an All-Star.
• Ross Detwiler does his Frank Sinatra impersonation.
• Jayson Werth‘s ugly swing has massaged your beer goggles of late: four homers, eight RBIs in his five-game hit streak.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka is the next Chien-Ming Wang. Dice-K was extremely fortunate last year, and he’s nibbling around the plate too much. John Smoltz is calling….

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