Throwing this out there: is Fukudome rather unimpressive?

[TruffleShuffle]

he's fine. he's not great, but he's good, and he does a lot of things well (baserunning, defense, choosing japanese restaurants). i have a hard time seeing how his approach will translate into good power, but if he turns out to be a slightly watered down version of bobby abreu's prime, that's not a bad thing. he's certainly better than the other options.

 

slightly watered down of Bobby Abreu's prime???? You do realize how good he was. He was a 25-30 HR guy who could hit .330 and draw 100 walks. Oh yeah and he stole 30 bases pretty regularly back in the day. So even a heavy water down would mean Fukudome is .300 15 HR with 20 SB's. Right now he's not on pace for any of those and pretty far off on some of the other stats. What I compare him to is Francoeur with much less power but much more plate discipline i.e. walks. Both hit around .290 and play very good defense in RF with cannon's for arms.

 

nice job, ridicule the comparison to bobby abreu, and then compare fukudome to a guy whose career high in walks is about 65 less than he's on pace for.

[wrigley23]

I find it hilarious that you incorporate the Soriano argument into pretty much EVERY post you make. This thread has nothing to do with Soriano. thx

 

This is a cubs message board & last I checked, fuko played for the cub. The question was raised about fuko being a disappointment. It was then brought up about his batting slot. His obp being well over .400 screams that of leadoff hitter. Another pointed out a more productive offense through stats backing. Sorry, you are out of line on this one.

[mcgoobs]

If it seems as if he's been disappointing, it would only because the hype surrounding his arrival, combined with his very hot -start - a .458/.501/.758 line after the first seven games, an SI cover shortly thereafter - led people to have outsized expectations of how much he actually would contribute. A .295/.405/.430 line is nothing to be upset about. A team of only Fukudome's would score 7 runs a game, which is a great result for $7M per year.

 

This is all a bit of speculation, but there could be other great things about having Fukudome on the team. Gammons (I think) tells a story about when Wade Boggs went to the Yankees, he spread the patient hitting mentality that became their staple during the championship years. I'm not sure how much we should heap praise on Fukudome over Hendry and Perry, but it's been a welcome change.

[BigbadB]

I certainly didn't expect Ruthian numbers the first season Fukudome faced major league hitters.

[Sammy Sofa]

I find it hilarious that you incorporate the Soriano argument into pretty much EVERY post you make. This thread has nothing to do with Soriano. thx

 

This is a cubs message board & last I checked, fuko played for the cub. The question was raised about fuko being a disappointment. It was then brought up about his batting slot. His obp being well over .400 screams that of leadoff hitter. Another pointed out a more productive offense through stats backing. Sorry, you are out of line on this one.

 

Why can't he hit #2 behind Soriano? Then he's still batting in front of Lee and Ramirez and he provides more of a power threat and is much better at your beloved stolen bases than Theriot.

[BigbadB]

I find it hilarious that you incorporate the Soriano argument into pretty much EVERY post you make. This thread has nothing to do with Soriano. thx

 

This is a cubs message board & last I checked, fuko played for the cub. The question was raised about fuko being a disappointment. It was then brought up about his batting slot. His obp being well over .400 screams that of leadoff hitter. Another pointed out a more productive offense through stats backing. Sorry, you are out of line on this one.

 

Why can't he hit #2 behind Soriano? Then he's still batting in front of Lee and Ramirez and he provides more of a power threat and is much better at your beloved stolen bases than Theriot.

 

EXACTLY!

[wrigley23]

why? that's like hitting a slowpitch softball. It's pretty simple, really. His obp is nearly 100 pts higher & unlike fuko, soriano is more of a power threat. It makes so much more sense for soriano to hit fuko in than the reverse, especially when fuko is more likely to be on to be hit in than the reverse.

[SouthSideRyan]

What I compare him to is Francoeur with much less power but much more plate discipline i.e. walks. Both hit around .290 and play very good defense in RF with cannon's for arms.

 

This comparison, it's horrible comparison.

[Backtobanks]

I love watching everything he does. He's very professional in every aspect of the game. It's kind of like watching Greg Maddux pitch. The other point that some people made is that this is his first year in a completely foreign country and he has been a solid contributor, wait until next year when he has a chance to feel more comfortable in the league and in this country.

[Butterscup1679666578]

who the hell is fuko

[Soul]

A .400+ OBP percentage hitter inserted directly into the middle of our lineup is pretty much exactly what we needed to overcome the high-K, low-OBP Cubs of years past.

 

Batting average means little in the face of a good OBP. Even with little power, Fuku is still well over 100 OPS+. I think he's fine. And he's not stupid -- another thing we needed to cure from past Cub teams.

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

who the hell is fuko

 

I guess she is.....

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Fuko

[AlwaysaCub]

Among RFs, he seventh in VORP.

 

Matsui didn't hit for much power his first year over, either. .287/.353/.435 compared to Kosuke's .300/.409/.438.

 

Matsui's OPS+ was 109, Fukudome's is 120.

 

Matsui's SLG jumped almost 90 points in his second year. In other words, Fukudome's been great and he'll probably only get better.

 

This.

 

He's been great, and if your expectations were superstar level, then you set the bar too high from the start.

 

Exactly. His power numbers will get better. Heck, they already have. He hit a HR on opening day, and didn't hit another til May 10th. He hit 3 in a span of 12 games after that. For comparison's sake, since May 30th, Fukudome has hit 3 HRs. That's more than anyone else on the roster outside of Mark Derosa, who has 4. Ramirez has 0. Lee has 1. Pointing that out not to say he will be one of the team's best power hitters from here on out, but to point out that his power will increase as he goes around the league a 2nd and 3rd time. Kosuke's ISOP is still way below where it probably should and will be, but he's not Ryan Theriot out there.

 

More important than his power increase in his second year is that Matsui sustained his improvement over the next three years. We have him under contract for three more years and he should be better in the power department over that time but the whole contract was only 48 mil anyway which is a relative bargain for a gold glove-type outfielder who could hit .315/.425/.490 at this point.

[CubinNY]

A .400+ OBP percentage hitter inserted directly into the middle of our lineup is pretty much exactly what we needed to overcome the high-K, low-OBP Cubs of years past.

 

Batting average means little in the face of a good OBP. Even with little power, Fuku is still well over 100 OPS+. I think he's fine. And he's not stupid -- another thing we needed to cure from past Cub teams.

 

This is all true. I hate his slap hitting style but it gets the job done. He's shown the way.

[Peoriaman]

If the Cubs wanted him to hit 15-20 home runs, all they need to do is ask.

[cubweiser03]

He has good power, he just goes with the pitches. He'll turn on a ball inside, but he doesnt seem to get the chance to often. Yesterday they were trying to bust him in inside on one appearence. I really dont think thats a good idea either. Overall, im impressed with him.

[Soul]

A .400+ OBP percentage hitter inserted directly into the middle of our lineup is pretty much exactly what we needed to overcome the high-K, low-OBP Cubs of years past.

 

Batting average means little in the face of a good OBP. Even with little power, Fuku is still well over 100 OPS+. I think he's fine. And he's not stupid -- another thing we needed to cure from past Cub teams.

 

This is all true. I hate his slap hitting style but it gets the job done. He's shown the way.

 

I agree. I don't like his "bail out" slap hitting style either. But what I do like is that he's such a different type of hitter than pretty much any of our other players. I can't quantify it, but I think it's helpful for an offense to have someone like that.

[rocket]

it's still not that out of the question for fuku to have 15+ homers.

[TruffleShuffle]

he's like francoeur with 100 points of OBP, more ability to hit for average, less power and a weaker arm. aside from that they're pretty much identical.

[OleMissCub]

he's like francoeur with 100 points of OBP, more ability to hit for average, less power and a weaker arm. aside from that they're pretty much identical.

 

The comparison to Francouer is invalid on its face because Frenchie is white and Fukudome is Asian. Fukudome can only be compared to other Asian players.

[CubbieBum]

he's like francoeur with 100 points of OBP, more ability to hit for average, less power and a weaker arm. aside from that they're pretty much identical.

 

The comparison to Francouer is invalid on its face because Frenchie is white and Fukudome is Asian. Fukudome can only be compared to other Asian players.

 

ok fine then he's like Isuro Tanaka

[Roast]

who the hell is fuko

 

I guess she is.....

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Fuko

WOAH.

[Butterscup1679666578]

who the hell is fuko

 

I guess she is.....

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Fuko

 

we signed the wrong person, obviously.

[David]

guys like fuko w/ little power but high obp hit leadoff. He would be one of the premier leadoff men in baseball based on his obp alone. He's just being used incorrectly as is Soriano.

 

I find it hilarious that you incorporate the Soriano argument into pretty much EVERY post you make. This thread has nothing to do with Soriano. thx

 

 

What I find hilarious is that when he insisted Piniella and Hendry wanted Roberts because they knew that Soriano wasn't a leadoff hitter, Piniella was infallible in his argument and he insisted that he was right JUST BECAUSE Lou and Hendry apparently agreed with him.

 

Now that Piniella is actually doing something wrigley doesn't agree with, it's incorrect and he can do wrong.

[islandcub]

why? that's like hitting a slowpitch softball. It's pretty simple, really. His obp is nearly 100 pts higher & unlike fuko, soriano is more of a power threat. It makes so much more sense for soriano to hit fuko in than the reverse, especially when fuko is more likely to be on to be hit in than the reverse.

Yeah, because when Soriano is taken out of the leadoff spot, he's produced so well. :roll: