Soto beginning to right himself at plate

Chicago (39-38) vs. Milwaukee (42-38), 12:05 p.m. CT

Andrew Simon / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Early in his career as a Minor League catcher, Geovany Soto could not pull the ball.

"He was a decent catch-and-throw guy, but he couldn't hit that well," said Von Joshua, the Cubs' hitting coach, who previously worked with Soto at Double-A and Triple-A. "He used to inside-out everything. For years, I was trying to get him out of that."

Joshua succeeded eventually and helped Soto develop the power he displayed in hitting 23 home runs last season on his way to the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Soto, who figures to be in the starting lineup Saturday against the Brewers after getting a day off Friday, has started to show that kind of pop again over the past couple of weeks after struggling mightily early in the season.

Through May 19, Soto was hitting .198 with one home run and a .260 slugging percentage. Joshua, who replaced Gerald Perry as the Cubs' hitting coach June 14, said Soto was having the opposite problem he had early in his professional career.

He was trying to pull the ball and hit it out of the ballpark too much, instead of staying relaxed at the plate and using the whole field. Pitchers had adjusted to Soto, Joshua said, and Soto had not readjusted.

"It was tough," Soto said. "I felt like it was never going to end, just out after out after out. It gets to a point where you just want to say, 'Forget everything.' But you've just got to grind it out. It's a really long season."

Coincidence or not, Soto has hit .315 with five home runs and 10 RBIs in 16 games since Joshua arrived. He homered Thursday against Brewers reliever Chris Smith, smacking a 2-0 fastball over the left-field wall.

"That's the way you have to hit your home runs," Joshua said. "You can't just go up there and say every pitch, 'I'm going to try to leave the yard.' Wait until the pitcher gives you a pitch to do it with."

Joshua said that although Soto likes to tease him by saying, "Forget right field," the catcher has been hitting the ball better the opposite way of late.