Piniella: Fukudome Needs to Start Hitting

[ConstableRabbit]

Kosuke seemed pretty pissed off by Lou's comments. Bitter even.

[Magnetic Curses]

Fukudome is gonna be fine... he has a new country, league to learn, and child... don't worry he's going to come around.

 

For the love of... I have never seen this board put on blinders the way it has with Fukudome. He's not "just in a slump." HE'S JUST NOT THAT GOOD.

 

This is insane, it's like last year when the casual fan message boards wouldn't accept anything bad about Theriot.

 

I'm sick of the excuses. Will someone please just give a date when you guys will FINALLY stop using the "Blah blah blah new country blah blah slump blah blah blah he'll figure it out" stuff, because I've heard it long enough and I'm sick of that crutch.

 

Look, it's simple. He's like Akinori Iwamura. Neither are good producers. That's the end of it. The Cubs made a bad decision but I don't blame them, it seems like Japanese players have been overhyped ever since Ichiro. I feel sorry for the team that pays a $100 million posting fee for Darvish.

 

Get Kosuke the hell out of the #2 spot. #7.

 

did you read this thread, or did you just come here looking for a post like that you could rip to shreds?

 

because if you had read the thread, you would have seen that cynosure was basically alone in proclaiming kosuke fine. why you feel the need to criticize "this board" over the posts of one guy, i have no idea.

 

he's just looking for newsletter subscribers. apparently, he's never been able to get over pearl harbor.

[Mizzou]

Kosuke seemed pretty pissed off by Lou's comments. Bitter even.

How so?

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

Kosuke seemed pretty pissed off by Lou's comments. Bitter even.

How so?

I'm not going to start hitting just because he said something like that, either

 

"It doesn't bother me at all," Fukudome said. "Maybe that's the American way of doing things around here."

[CubinNY]

I'm glad for the things Kosuke has done for us this year and I have high hopes for him in the rest of his contract, but he definitely needs some time off. New team, new city, new country, new league, more travel. I'm sure he's gassed. It might not make much of a difference production-wise going Dero/Fontenot over Dero/Kosuke against right handers, but anything to get him a breather is probably a good thing.

I'm agreeing with this. He's still playing good defense. He looks lost at the plate. It's hard for me to analyze his swing as I have a hard time understanding how he ever makes solid contact, but he seems to be really off balance and is expanding the strike zone.

[Mizzou]

I guess I should've just read the article. Didn't realize his response was in it.

 

I don't see a problem with what Kosuke said. And I certainly don't see any bitterness either.

[ConstableRabbit]

Also,

"[Perry] hasn't seen me play all year round," Fukudome said. "He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting good. He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting bad. Gerald has not seen everything that he needs to see to give the best advice."

 

Maybe he's just frustrated, but he sounded annoyed to me.

[Soul]

He sounds annoyed, and he also sounds like he doesn't feel like he's getting the help he needs.

 

It doesn't sound like a real good situation to me, although he's probably just annoyed and frustrated with himself as well as the situation (to be fair).

 

I think it's a good idea to work in some days off for him. Same with Lee.

[soapy]

it seems like he's really expanding his zone compared to earlier in the season. count me in the camp that thinks he just needs some time to work through everything and adjust. i like giving him the occasional day off vs. a LHP, but i wouldn't "bench" him.

[Derwood]

does Gerald Perry dare try to alter his "flail and bail" hitting style. He gets killed on soft stuff outside

[UMFan83]

Also,

"[Perry] hasn't seen me play all year round," Fukudome said. "He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting good. He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting bad. Gerald has not seen everything that he needs to see to give the best advice."

 

Maybe he's just frustrated, but he sounded annoyed to me.

 

He also sounds like someone that is hesitant to listen to advice and coaching.

[Old Style]

Maybe he prefers the Japanese way where the manager punches him in the face for sucking this bad.

[soapy]

Also,

"[Perry] hasn't seen me play all year round," Fukudome said. "He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting good. He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting bad. Gerald has not seen everything that he needs to see to give the best advice."

 

Maybe he's just frustrated, but he sounded annoyed to me.

 

He also sounds like someone that is hesitant to listen to advice and coaching.

 

that seems like a leap. i'd like to know what the question was before i jump to that conclusion. if the question was something along the lines of, "Why hasn't the hitting coach been able to help you correct things?" then it reads like he's defending his coach.

[Choonch]

I guess I should've just read the article. Didn't realize his response was in it.

 

I don't see a problem with what Kosuke said. And I certainly don't see any bitterness either.

 

I completely disagree. Kosuke sounds like he is brushing off Lou's comments.

Edited August 11, 2008 by Choonch

[USSoccer]

It seems like Fukudome is a little edge and tempermental, based on some of his quotes this season.

 

Not that I care-I actually kind of like my people moody.

 

And any comparisons from Matsuzaka to Russ Ortiz are some of the funnier things I've read here.

[UMFan83]

Also,

"[Perry] hasn't seen me play all year round," Fukudome said. "He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting good. He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting bad. Gerald has not seen everything that he needs to see to give the best advice."

 

Maybe he's just frustrated, but he sounded annoyed to me.

 

He also sounds like someone that is hesitant to listen to advice and coaching.

 

that seems like a leap. i'd like to know what the question was before i jump to that conclusion. if the question was something along the lines of, "Why hasn't the hitting coach been able to help you correct things?" then it reads like he's defending his coach.

 

True, I should have said that depending on the context it sounds like he might be hesitant to listen to advice and coaching. Quotes are taken out of context all the time.

[Choonch]

Also,

"[Perry] hasn't seen me play all year round," Fukudome said. "He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting good. He hasn't seen me when I'm really hitting bad. Gerald has not seen everything that he needs to see to give the best advice."

 

Maybe he's just frustrated, but he sounded annoyed to me.

 

He also sounds like someone that is hesitant to listen to advice and coaching.

 

that seems like a leap. i'd like to know what the question was before i jump to that conclusion. if the question was something along the lines of, "Why hasn't the hitting coach been able to help you correct things?" then it reads like he's defending his coach.

 

Good point.

[apete6]

Maybe he prefers the Japanese way where the manager punches him in the face for sucking this bad.

 

This.

 

And if you look at the Kosuke projections, we are probably going to end up getting what we expected. "They are who we thought they were" Dennis Green style. IIRC, the expected line was .270/15HR/70 RBI and about a .370 OBP with good defense in RF.

 

That's pretty much what we're getting. A bit low on the SLG, but his first month or two have really skewed everyone's opinion of him.

[CuseCubFan69]

I would have preferred that Lou kept this out of the press, unless he has already talked to Kouske a few times and feels this might give him a jolt.

[jersey cubs fan]

I would have preferred that Lou kept this out of the press, unless he has already talked to Kouske a few times and feels this might give him a jolt.

 

Generally speaking, I'd prefer a manager talk to the player. But all Lou did was say Kosuke needs to start hitting, and that's true. It's not like Kosuke is injured and Lou is saying he thinks he's faking, or that Lou is saying Fukudome isn't trying. He's saying he should be hitting better. I don't have a problem with that.

[CuseCubFan69]

I would have preferred that Lou kept this out of the press, unless he has already talked to Kouske a few times and feels this might give him a jolt.

 

Generally speaking, I'd prefer a manager talk to the player. But all Lou did was say Kosuke needs to start hitting, and that's true. It's not like Kosuke is injured and Lou is saying he thinks he's faking, or that Lou is saying Fukudome isn't trying. He's saying he should be hitting better. I don't have a problem with that.

 

I don't have a big problem w/what Lou said but I still prefer he deal w/it behind closed doors. I think he could have said we need more offensive production out of a player or 2 and not single the guy out.

[UMFan83]

Maybe he prefers the Japanese way where the manager punches him in the face for sucking this bad.

 

 

And if you look at the Kosuke projections, we are probably going to end up getting what we expected. "They are who we thought they were" Dennis Green style. IIRC, the expected line was .270/15HR/70 RBI and about a .370 OBP with good defense in RF.

 

That's pretty much what we're getting. A bit low on the SLG, but his first month or two have really skewed everyone's opinion of him.

 

Not sure if that's going to be true considering we are at those numbers right now after hitting .353/.455/.500 on May 1st and going ..241/.339/.365 in the 3.5 months since then.

[Mizzou]

Not to oversimplify things, but Fukudome just needs to adjust. He was doing so well early on because pitchers didn't know his strengths and weaknesses. They quickly figured those out though, and as a result he has struggled. I don't know how much longer he's going to continue to suck, but it's been months now... he needs to figure out it and he needs to figure it out soon. He seems like an intelligent player, you wouldn't think that this would be so difficult for him.

[Jon]

As I've stated before, Kosuke has gone through several ups and downs. This isn't a consistent slump. In fact, when he does slump, it has been for 1-3 weeks at a time. He has been in good streaks more often than he has been in bad, but the problem is that he doesn't have streaks where he puts up a .600 or .700 OPS. He either hits .900 or below .300. So even though his overall numbers aren't good, it's not that he doesn't have plenty of periods where he does hit very well. It's just that when he slumps, he doesn't do anything. It's rather strange.

[MasterBlaster]

You'd think these Japanese hitters would have their own batting coach in their entourage. Seriously, Kosuke can't expect Gerald Perry to fix his swing, he swings totally unlike other players. I'm not saying Kosuke is expecting Perry to help him, but he did mention it a little. It seems idiotic that you wouldn't drag a hitting instructor with you from Japan, who understands these batting styles.