Scouts take on Kosuke

[Dallas Green]

Talked to some Philly scouts in town to watch the Cubs tonight. Asked about Fukudome. One scout put down four fingers. They all said outside part of plate, off-speed, can't do anything with it. Wouldn't be suprised if Kosuke went back to Japan and took half of what Cubs owed him?

 

I personally would like to see him next year, he is making alot for a guy not hitting. He did have a good influence on the line-up esp. Ramirez.

 

On a funny note, one of them was didn't know the answer to a trivia question, so he called Dallas Green.

[RedFlash]

Talked to some Philly scouts in town to watch the Cubs tonight. Asked about Fukudome. One scout put down four fingers. They all said outside part of plate, off-speed, can't do anything with it. Wouldn't be suprised if Kosuke went back to Japan and took half of what Cubs owed him?

 

I personally would like to see him next year, he is making alot for a guy not hitting. He did have a good influence on the line-up esp. Ramirez.

 

On a funny note, one of them was didn't know the answer to a trivia question, so he called Dallas Green.

 

Personally I would like to give Kosuke one more before we start talking about buyout. It's obviously he can hit, it's just his style that worked in Japan isn't working in United States. So perhaps some major tinkering to his stance might help him..

[Dallas Green]

Talked to some Philly scouts in town to watch the Cubs tonight. Asked about Fukudome. One scout put down four fingers. They all said outside part of plate, off-speed, can't do anything with it. Wouldn't be suprised if Kosuke went back to Japan and took half of what Cubs owed him?

 

I personally would like to see him next year, he is making alot for a guy not hitting. He did have a good influence on the line-up esp. Ramirez.

 

On a funny note, one of them was didn't know the answer to a trivia question, so he called Dallas Green.

 

Personally I would like to give Kosuke one more before we start talking about buyout. It's obviously he can hit, it's just his style that worked in Japan isn't working in United States. So perhaps some major tinkering to his stance might help him..

 

agreed, I would like to see it work out.

[Little Slide Rooter]

All I have to say is that if Kosuke was just some free agent we picked up off the market, and not the Japanese Phenom, hed be booed hardily every time he stepped to the plate.

[nolanwood]

It definitely appears like he's lost at the plate, but he was very successful in Japan - did they never throw him anything on the outside part of the plate or offspeed? That doesn't seem very likely...

 

I'd think a more likely scenario is that he's been unable to hit those pitches the last half of this year because he's pressing to much.

[16greenhuskies]

Baseball's all abouot adjustments. It will be interesting to see if Kosuke will make adjustments this offseason.

[soapy]

All I have to say is that if Kosuke was just some free agent we picked up off the market, and not the Japanese Phenom, hed be booed hardily every time he stepped to the plate.

 

which would be pretty stupid.

[jyoung55]

Baseball's all abouot adjustments. It will be interesting to see if Kosuke will make adjustments this offseason.

 

Welcome to the forum. Are you aware that green font is the font designated for sarcasm here? If so, I apologize.

[anabiono]

kosuke is a legend

 

and that legend begins in about a week in a half

 

you will see

 

oh yes

 

you all will see

[16greenhuskies]

jyoung,

 

Thanks. Didn't know. I'm 16greenhuskies ... I posted in green as such....... thanks no sarcasm intended. Kosuke better learn to adjsut or he'll be little more than a footnote of sort in Cubs history.....

[Backtobanks]

I'm betting that Kosuke will be great at taking advice from Piniella and Perry. I look for a solid year for him next year.

[E.J.]

I'm betting that Kosuke will be great at taking advice from Piniella and Perry. I look for a solid year for him next year.

 

If he's great, how come he hasn't adjusted at the plate this year? He's had the same approach at the plate all season long.

[Soul]

Fuku's not a young player. I fear his hitting approach is too much a part of who he is as a baseball player to change it now. I can see it being impossible for him to make the kind of adjustment it would take. Not because he wouldn't want to, but because it's just really hard to go against what you've learned and used for so many years in Japan.

[UMFan83]

I'm betting that Kosuke will be great at taking advice from Piniella and Perry. I look for a solid year for him next year.

 

If he's great, how come he hasn't adjusted at the plate this year? He's had the same approach at the plate all season long.

 

I would assume its hard to completely overhaul your swing during the season, especially with all the other distractions of moving to a new country. I know its an excuse, but I think giving Kosuke an entire offseason to remake himself could do wonders. As people are saying, Kosuke obviously has talent and ability. He's a good ballplayer, he just hasn't made enough adjustments to the American game.

[UMFan83]

Here is an excerpt of an article talking at Hideki Matsui's first year with the Yankees:

 

In the early days of the Grapefruit League schedule, an unidentified flying object crossed Hideki Matsui's path. It traveled at the velocity of a fastball, yet it veered away from him, like no fastball he had seen. So the Yankees rookie went to his interpreter, Roger Kahlon, and together, they approached Robin Ventura, then team's third baseman.

 

"He wanted to know what that pitch was," Ventura recalls. "I said, 'You'd better get used to it. Everybody has one.'"

 

"It" was a two-seam fastball, as common in the major leagues as a hotel alias. As rare in Japan as a vacant lot.

 

The two-seamer, according to Matsui, is the primary reason that the extraordinary power numbers he compiled in Japan have translated into rather modest statistics in the major leagues.

 

Japanese pitchers such as Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki have come here and produced results similar to their accomplishments in Japan. Ichiro Suzuki arrived here and made a splash with his bat, arm and speed.

 

But Matsui represents what could be the toughest Japan-to-U.S. transition of all: The Japanese slugger. Godzilla, as Matsui was known in Japan, has turned into something far less intimidating, even though he hardly has crumbled.

 

"To me, definitely, it would be a fact to say the adjustment has been difficult," Matsui says through Kahlon. "If I continued to play the way I played in Japan, it would be very difficult to adjust here. I feel it's important to change your approach accordingly. I definitely feel that difficulty, even on a daily basis."

[Bull]

jyoung,

 

Thanks. Didn't know. I'm 16greenhuskies ... I posted in green as such....... thanks no sarcasm intended. Kosuke better learn to adjsut or he'll be little more than a footnote of sort in Cubs history.....

 

That's ok, its been widely determined to be a stupid rule anyway. :)

[jersey cubs fan]

Two things about Kosuke, he's coming off elbow surgery, and I believe Japan is much more of a fastball league, and they don't throw as many changes. Off speed off the plate was bound to fool him. But will it fool him forever? I doubt it. He's shown he is very capable of solid plate appearances. He can battle. He can turn on the ball and he can flick it to the opposite field.

 

I think there were quite a few strike 1 called on him that were at best borderline, and it frustrated him. He bagan to widen his zone and was then lost. I would not expect that to last throughout his time here. If he puts in the effort, which I have no doubt he's willing to do, I think he will improve significantly in 2009.

[bcl412]

He has a very good approach, his time in Japan shows he has the talent, if he can adjust to the league he'll be worth the money I think (or at least him being on the team). I think the major reason that you don't see him adjusting now is that it's tough to change your swing in the middle of the season. Especially if you've done that your whole life. Mentally I would be thinking that I'm in a slump, if I do something I'm uncomfortable with it will only get worse. If he changes his mechanics in the off season that will give him more time to get mentally adjusted to it.

[C.C.]

Per suntimes:

 

 

Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone].''

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

boy, did we make a mistake with this guy..Kaz Matsui Part II.

[biittner77]

Per suntimes:

 

 

Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone].''

 

I have a hard time believing he's afraid of being hit.

[Post Count Padder]

He's got the talent. I don't wanna give up on him after one year.

[Mizzou]

Per suntimes:

 

 

Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone].''

 

I have a hard time believing he's afraid of being hit.

Me too. You would think that that fear goes away pretty early on. Like, little league.

[TMan92]

Per suntimes:

 

 

Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone].''

 

I have a hard time believing he's afraid of being hit.

Me too. You would think that that fear goes away pretty early on. Like, little league.

 

Post beaning Sammy Sosa says :wave:

[UK1679666180]

Per suntimes:

 

 

Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone].''

 

I have a hard time believing he's afraid of being hit.

 

Kosuke is "stepping in the bucket" when he swings or planting his stride (front) foot well further than his pivot (back) foot, one of the reasons always associated with that is being afraid to get hit. Whether or not that's true, he ain't giving himself a chance on the outer 3rd of the plate.