Re: So they've finally figured out Kosuke.

[rocket]

i was gonna comment, before reading this entire thread, that it seems that he's started a lot of counts lately 0-2. the pitchers are nibbling the corners and kosuke's letting the first 2 go and is falling behind. but since he's a solid 2 strike hitter, i guess that shot my theory down really quick.

[hardcorecubfan]

LLF's threads for some reason really irritate me...

 

Because they're usually wrong and he starts a ton of them?

 

Explain how he is wrong?

 

Has his strike out gone up the last two weeks?

Are not most of those pitches on the outside corner?

 

It should be interesting to see how KF monitors and adjusts

[Sammy Sofa]

LLF's threads for some reason really irritate me...

 

Because they're usually wrong and he starts a ton of them?

 

Explain how he is wrong?

 

Read rest of thread?

 

As of yesterday:

 

Kosuke with 2 strikes this year: .292/.397/.398

Last 18 games: .290/.402/.420

[Abe Frohman]

Ummm, not trying to be a jerk - but the whole "fouling off 2-strike pitches" is a technique called "spoiling." Good hitters can do that.

[jaydee]

He does seem to be taking some bad swings at pitches with two strikes lately. Especially outside pitches. Hes a smart hitter and i'm sure he will adjust

[badnews]

People sure are determined as all get out to give Fukudome a free pass.

 

Why is everyone so sure he'll hit for more power? I don't see evidence of that.

 

Facts? A corner outfielder who has a .130 Isolated Power is a disappointment. That's bad company to be keeping. I'm not enamored with the plummeting batting average either.

 

Since May 4 Fukudome is hitting .254 with a .367 OBP, slugging a robust .368, for an OPS of .734.

 

But people will be elated if he just keeps taking walks?

 

Sorry. In my opinion if you're happy with 2004 Scott Hatteberg rate numbers your standards are just too low. I'm not impressed. Corner outfielders who hit in Wrigley should produce more than just walks.

[mcgoobs]

People sure are determined as all get out to give Fukudome a free pass.

 

Why is everyone so sure he'll hit for more power? I don't see evidence of that.

 

Facts? A corner outfielder who has a .130 Isolated Power is a disappointment. That's bad company to be keeping. I'm not enamored with the plummeting batting average either.

 

Since May 4 Fukudome is hitting .254 with a .367 OBP, slugging a robust .368, for an OPS of .734.

 

But people will be elated if he just keeps taking walks?

 

Sorry. In my opinion if you're happy with 2004 Scott Hatteberg rate numbers your standards are just too low. I'm not impressed. Corner outfielders who hit in Wrigley should produce more than just walks.

 

I'm happy with a corner outfielder who has a RC/9 of 6.5, especially when we're paying him $6M this year.

 

His numbers across April, May and June have been consistent at a high 300s/low 400s OBP, low 400s SLG. Given his performance in Japan, it's unclear why people expected him to perform any different in the majors, or any different going forward.

[Mizzou]

LLF's threads for some reason really irritate me...

 

Because they're usually wrong and he starts a ton of them?

 

Explain how he is wrong?

 

Read rest of thread?

 

As of yesterday:

 

Kosuke with 2 strikes this year: .292/.397/.398

Last 18 games: .290/.402/.420

Jon already mentioned after the fact that the last 18 games stat is overall, not with 2 strikes.

 

Kosuke has been striking out more lately, hardcorecubfan is right.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Admittedly I have not watched Kosuke much this year but I do wonder if he can keep walking this much given his lack of power. At some point I'd think MLB pitchers will start challenging him more.

[Outshined_One]

Admittedly I have not watched Kosuke much this year but I do wonder if he can keep walking this much given his lack of power. I'd think at some point MLB pitchers will start challenging him more.

 

The problem with challenging Kosuke is that he can drive pitches, especially on the inner half. He has enough power to hit gappers and home runs when he gets pitches on the inner and middle portions of the strike zone, especially pitches that are thigh-high and above in the zone. Kosuke's biggest problem has been handling breaking balls low and away, especially if a pitcher can get strike one with it. He'll chase those, especially in a pitcher's count.

 

However, the problem with going away-away-away with Kosuke is that he'll lay off those pitches in hitter's counts and umpires are not always generous with calling those pitches.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Admittedly I have not watched Kosuke much this year but I do wonder if he can keep walking this much given his lack of power. I'd think at some point MLB pitchers will start challenging him more.

 

The problem with challenging Kosuke is that he can drive pitches, especially on the inner half. He has enough power to hit gappers and home runs when he gets pitches on the inner and middle portions of the strike zone, especially pitches that are thigh-high and above in the zone.

 

 

 

I think most of MLB would agree with this but his below avg ISO (.128) is telling me a different story. Maybe he'll make adjustments and add more power. He's an interesting player to watch.

[cheapseats]

Admittedly I have not watched Kosuke much this year but I do wonder if he can keep walking this much given his lack of power. I'd think at some point MLB pitchers will start challenging him more.

 

The problem with challenging Kosuke is that he can drive pitches, especially on the inner half. He has enough power to hit gappers and home runs when he gets pitches on the inner and middle portions of the strike zone, especially pitches that are thigh-high and above in the zone.

 

 

 

I think most of MLB would agree with this but his below avg ISO (.128) is telling me a different story. Maybe he'll make adjustments and add more power. He's an interesting player to watch.

 

He is an interesting player to watch. He is a right fielder, but he has played a few games in CF and played pretty well defensively. As he was moving the wrong way across the spectrum, this totally boggles one's mind.

 

Jacques Jones was another player who moved from RF to CF and performed very well defensively, IIRC.

[imb]

LLF's threads for some reason really irritate me...

 

Because they're usually wrong and he starts a ton of them?

 

Explain how he is wrong?

 

Read rest of thread?

 

As of yesterday:

 

Kosuke with 2 strikes this year: .292/.397/.398

Last 18 games: .290/.402/.420

Jon already mentioned after the fact that the last 18 games stat is overall, not with 2 strikes.

 

Kosuke has been striking out more lately, hardcorecubfan is right.

 

He struck out four more times in june than he did in april. He did have more PAs in April, so he did strike out more in less chances, but not a lot more. Certainly not enough to say for sure that it's anything more than a fluke.

[Jon]

Jon already mentioned after the fact that the last 18 games stat is overall, not with 2 strikes.

 

Kosuke has been striking out more lately, hardcorecubfan is right.

Kosuke's strikeout rate his previous 6 games: .321 K/PA

Kosuke's strikeout rate the month before that: .171 K/PA

Kosuke's strikeout rate overall: .159 K/PA

 

Nobody is denying that he hasn't had a rough last 6 games, but that's all it his. It's hardly worth talking about. Everyone goes through it numerous times every season. In the previous month before this short, bad stretch, he hit .315/.423/.500. And I've already showed that Kosuke does well when he works deep in the count.

 

To make any sort of conclusion out of less than a week of struggling is not wise. The basic premise of it is also wrong in this case.

[cheapseats]

Admittedly I have not watched Kosuke much this year but I do wonder if he can keep walking this much given his lack of power. At some point I'd think MLB pitchers will start challenging him more.

 

Like Looper did?

[Sosa21MVP]

Fukudome is obviously not a slugger but his power numbers are improving. In his first 128 AB's, he hit 1 HR. In his next 171 AB's, he has hit 6 HR's. Maybe that rate will continue to improve as he gets more and more comfortable.

[Peoriaman]

Yesterday will make some people happy. One hit--but it was a home run!

[RynoRules]

The guy is OPS'ing .800 after over 1/2 of his first ML season. He does a very nice job in the OF. His OBP is hovering around .400. I think some people's expectations for Kosuke are a bit over the top. Let's give him some time to adjust to ML pitching.

[mcgoobs]

The guy is OPS'ing .800 after over 1/2 of his first ML season. He does a very nice job in the OF. His OBP is hovering around .400. I think some people's expectations for Kosuke are a bit over the top. Let's give him some time to adjust to ML pitching.

 

Spot on. The most important stat for Fukudome is his OBP, which has consistently been in the .390 - .400 range the entire season. While his power numbers are low for a corner outfielder, he's still a very productive hitter.

[Sosa21MVP]

The guy is OPS'ing .800 after over 1/2 of his first ML season. He does a very nice job in the OF. His OBP is hovering around .400. I think some people's expectations for Kosuke are a bit over the top. Let's give him some time to adjust to ML pitching.

 

Spot on. The most important stat for Fukudome is his OBP, which has consistently been in the .390 - .400 range the entire season. While his power numbers are low for a corner outfielder, he's still a very productive hitter.

 

Also, it's not like the Cubs are struggling to hit for power and need the RF position to hit a lot of dingers. The Cubs are currently 7th in all of MLB in HR's and 5th in SLG.

[RedFlash]

Let's simplify this:

 

Jacques Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, or Kosuke Fukudome in RF?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's fine. I expect improvement as the season continues, and FBomb adjust to the new pitchers.

[badnews]

Let's simplify this:

 

Jacques Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, or Kosuke Fukudome in RF?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's fine. I expect improvement as the season continues, and FBomb adjust to the new pitchers.

 

I can't believe you even wrote that. That's like saying about Ryan Theriot last year "Who do you want, Cesar Izturis, Rey Ordonez, or Ryan Theriot?" or "Who would you rather have, Shawn Estes, Glendon Rusch, or Jason Marquis?" Come on. That's bogus for a lot of reasons.

 

We're not just talking about power here. We're talking about a poor batting average. Since the beginning of May in the low 250s with a middling 700s OPS. There's your Burnitz/Jacque territory right there.

 

I don't even understand this attitude. "Oh he'll be fine." Really? How do you know that? Well, he's making good money and he's from Japan so he has to be fine. Okay. Nobody knows he'll be fine. I don't know he won't be fine, you don't know he will be fine. What I do know is that for 2 months now he's been a .740 OPS right field and I don't think that's acceptable.

 

Look at J. D. Drew's numbers in 2007. Everyone says that contract is bad because of Drew's numbers but that's about right where Fukudome is heading and he's making around the same a year. If he ends up with rate numbers like Kevin Millar, Austin Kearns, Dan Johnson, or Jose Bautista in 2007, or Brian Giles and Felipe Lopez 2006 I won't be pleased.

 

I don't see how a sub-.800 OPS can be considered a good thing here.

[17 Seconds]

The guy is OPS'ing .800 after over 1/2 of his first ML season. He does a very nice job in the OF. His OBP is hovering around .400. I think some people's expectations for Kosuke are a bit over the top. Let's give him some time to adjust to ML pitching.

 

Fukudome's salary dictates what expectations should be.

[Jon]

I can't believe you even wrote that. That's like saying about Ryan Theriot last year "Who do you want, Cesar Izturis, Rey Ordonez, or Ryan Theriot?" or "Who would you rather have, Shawn Estes, Glendon Rusch, or Jason Marquis?" Come on. That's bogus for a lot of reasons.

 

We're not just talking about power here. We're talking about a poor batting average. Since the beginning of May in the low 250s with a middling 700s OPS. There's your Burnitz/Jacque territory right there.

 

I don't even understand this attitude. "Oh he'll be fine." Really? How do you know that? Well, he's making good money and he's from Japan so he has to be fine. Okay. Nobody knows he'll be fine. I don't know he won't be fine, you don't know he will be fine. What I do know is that for 2 months now he's been a .740 OPS right field and I don't think that's acceptable.

 

Look at J. D. Drew's numbers in 2007. Everyone says that contract is bad because of Drew's numbers but that's about right where Fukudome is heading and he's making around the same a year. If he ends up with rate numbers like Kevin Millar, Austin Kearns, Dan Johnson, or Jose Bautista in 2007, or Brian Giles and Felipe Lopez 2006 I won't be pleased.

 

I don't see how a sub-.800 OPS can be considered a good thing here.

You're looking at an arbitrary 2-month split while he's in the middle of a bad slump. You might as well go out to 3+ months, in which he's hitting .285/.391/.420. That's a good thing.

 

Here's another equally arbitrary breakdown by streaks:

 

First 29 games: .348/.443/.500

Next 20 games: .206/.329/.265

Next 27 games: .305/.422/.484

Last 7 games: .169/.219/.267

 

Before this slump, he had a season line of .298/.407/.436. There's nothing wrong with that. And it certainly hasn't been the steady decline from his great first month that you suggest it is.

[17 Seconds]

ONLY BLASPHEMERS QUESTION KOSUKE