Fukudome returning to form?

[bcl412]

Are we going to have these threads all year. Baseball players slump. Don't worry about it after 5 bad games, worry about it after 20 or more.

I don't think it's the slump that is of concern. It's the fact that he's physically doing the same things that caused him to fail miserably last year. The whole stepping towards first base thing is ridiculous. I don't know about you guys, but I was taught in little league that you put your foot back down TOWARDS THE PITCHER. I realize this could be a difference in teaching between Japan and the US, but I just don't see why Kosuke can't shake it. If someone told me right now to take a step in a certain direction, it would certainly not be a difficult task. I mean, isn't anyone actually telling Kosuke this stuff? Does he not notice or what?

 

This is kind of a random aside rant but why do people say stuff like "I was taught such and such in little league". You were most likely taught by a random dad who doesn't have much baseball authority.

[XZero771679666304]

Kosuke has reached base 13 times in the last 8 games.

The OP might want to read posts like this that show that his frustration is wildly misplaced. Fukudome has a .360 OBP in the last week. Yeah. he doesn't have an .800 ops for May (.779), but his .417 OBP is #9 in MLB and his May OBP is #19 in MLB.

 

He's still getting a fair amount of walks but it's been a while since he really drove a ball. When I say Kouske in the beginning of the season, he had totally abandoned the fukucopter and looked like a totally different player. Driving the ball all over the park, hanging in there much better.

 

However, lately I've been seeing the old approach and the results are declining. He got on base at a decent clip last year, too, and everybody still wanted his head by September.

 

If he keeps it up, his numbers are going to continue to decline. This I am sure of.

 

The swing was largely the same, it was just that he wasn't missing very much, thus no Fukucopter.

 

I hate to point out the obvious, but the book the league got on him after April last year was still out there when camps broke this year. He has made an adjustment. Don't forget Kosuke's average dipped below .300 a few weeks ago, and he got it back up in the .330's. You are going to see some fluctuations, as with everybody.

 

Frankly I'm more worried about Theriot, whose numbers are really headed south.

[RedFlash]

The swing was largely the same, it was just that he wasn't missing very much, thus no Fukucopter.

 

I hate to point out the obvious, but the book the league got on him after April last year was still out there when camps broke this year. He has made an adjustment. Don't forget Kosuke's average dipped below .300 a few weeks ago, and he got it back up in the .330's. You are going to see some fluctuations, as with everybody.

 

Frankly I'm more worried about Theriot, whose numbers are really headed south.

 

Agreed. I much rather Theriot shoot those singles into RF like he did last yr, and keep a higher BA/OBP instead of hitting for more power and less contract/OBP.

[rynefan]

The swing was largely the same, it was just that he wasn't missing very much, thus no Fukucopter.

 

I hate to point out the obvious, but the book the league got on him after April last year was still out there when camps broke this year. He has made an adjustment. Don't forget Kosuke's average dipped below .300 a few weeks ago, and he got it back up in the .330's. You are going to see some fluctuations, as with everybody.

 

Frankly I'm more worried about Theriot, whose numbers are really headed south.

 

Agreed. I much rather Theriot shoot those singles into RF like he did last yr, and keep a higher BA/OBP instead of hitting for more power and less contract/OBP.

 

I'll admit, I've had a good time watching the Riot's power surge (loved those three doubles the other night), but for the better good of this team, we need the old Riot back.

[CubColtPacer]

The swing was largely the same, it was just that he wasn't missing very much, thus no Fukucopter.

 

I hate to point out the obvious, but the book the league got on him after April last year was still out there when camps broke this year. He has made an adjustment. Don't forget Kosuke's average dipped below .300 a few weeks ago, and he got it back up in the .330's. You are going to see some fluctuations, as with everybody.

 

Frankly I'm more worried about Theriot, whose numbers are really headed south.

 

Agreed. I much rather Theriot shoot those singles into RF like he did last yr, and keep a higher BA/OBP instead of hitting for more power and less contract/OBP.

 

I'll admit, I've had a good time watching the Riot's power surge (loved those three doubles the other night), but for the better good of this team, we need the old Riot back.

 

I strongly disagree with that. I'd much rather have a version of a Mark DeRosa at the plate than Ryan Theriot, even the Theriot of last year. And that's really what Theriot has become.

 

Let's face it..Theriot was going to have a hard time maintaining a .387 OBP like he had last year. He might have been able to keep it around .370-.375, which still would have been fantastic. But with that putrid slugging, that means the best you could hope for OPS wise was somewhere between a .700 and .750.

 

Now, after a slump his OBP is down at .335, but his OPS is still 43 points higher than last year! I'll trade 50 points of OBP for 100 points of slugging. And Theriot's OBP has room to go up...what he really needs to do is move up his walk rate a little more to match last year. Even if his average stays around .270-.275, if he can move his walk rate up so that his OBP is around .350 that would be a much superior player to the Theriot of 2008. And last year's Theriot had to rely on his BABIP not being unlucky to not be terrible. This years version can have that go a little wrong and still be all right.

 

Not to mention that Theriot's swing keeps him from making additional outs in a couple of ways. First, Theriot was a big double play person last year. He hit so many ground balls that he grounded into 19 double plays last year. This year, he's on pace for 4. So Theriot might not be getting on base as much, but hitting more fly balls means his teammates stay on base more.

 

Also, while he has been better at this so far this year, Theriot standing at first base less means that he doesn't try to steal as many bases, which minimizes the risk of his inconsistency in that department.

 

Yes, Theriot has turned into a different player. And there are some things to be missed about the old player. But the new version is still likely to be better than the old one.

[1908]

I'll trade 50 points of OBP for 100 points of slugging.

Really? I wouldn't. OBP is on a 1.000 point scale; Slg. is on a 4.000 point scale.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'll trade 50 points of OBP for 100 points of slugging.

Really? I wouldn't. OBP is on a 1.000 point scale; Slg is on a 4.000 point scale.

 

I'm not sure why that's relevant. They aren't measuring the same thing, so the different denominators are irrelevant.

[1908]

I'll trade 50 points of OBP for 100 points of slugging.

Really? I wouldn't. OBP is on a 1.000 point scale; Slg. is on a 4.000 point scale.

I'm not sure why that's relevant. They aren't measuring the same thing, so the different denominators are irrelevant.

So you'd trade 100 points of OBP for 100 points of Slg.?

[CubColtPacer]

I'll trade 50 points of OBP for 100 points of slugging.

Really? I wouldn't. OBP is on a 1.000 point scale; Slg is on a 4.000 point scale.

I'm not sure why that's relevant. They aren't measuring the same thing, so the different denominators are irrelevant.

So you'd trade 100 points of OBP for 100 point of Slg?

 

I wouldn't do that. It's obvious OBP is more important than SLG. I happen to like the 1.4 multiplier, which would say that at most normal OBP levels getting 100 points of SLG for 50 points of OBP is the right move. Looking at how each correlates to runs scored over the last few years, I don't really think a higher multiplier is prudent anymore.

 

Plus, when you consider that Theriot's increase in SLG is coming from doubles and home runs (which SLG underrates) and actually has a decrease in singles (which SLG overrates) each point of his SLG becomes even closer to that of OBP.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

So you'd trade 100 points of OBP for 100 points of Slg.?

 

No, but not because of the scale they are on.

[1908]

I happen to like the 1.4 multiplier, which would say that at most normal OBP levels getting 100 points of SLG for 50 points of OBP is the right move. Looking at how each correlates to runs scored over the last few years, I don't really think a higher multiplier is prudent anymore.

Fair enough. 1.4 is on the low end of the multipliers I've seen suggested, and OBP has more value at the top of the order in front of the team's sluggers. 50 to 100 could very well be a wash.

[Guest]

Are we going to have these threads all year. Baseball players slump. Don't worry about it after 5 bad games, worry about it after 20 or more.

I don't think it's the slump that is of concern. It's the fact that he's physically doing the same things that caused him to fail miserably last year. The whole stepping towards first base thing is ridiculous. I don't know about you guys, but I was taught in little league that you put your foot back down TOWARDS THE PITCHER. I realize this could be a difference in teaching between Japan and the US, but I just don't see why Kosuke can't shake it. If someone told me right now to take a step in a certain direction, it would certainly not be a difficult task. I mean, isn't anyone actually telling Kosuke this stuff? Does he not notice or what?

 

This is kind of a random aside rant but why do people say stuff like "I was taught such and such in little league". You were most likely taught by a random dad who doesn't have much baseball authority.

 

Oh yeah? Well, my dad can beat up you and your dad!

[Three Finger]

Even in his weak last season, Kosuke ended up with a pretty good .359 OBP. I don't think its time to worry about Kosuke yet, but keep an eye on his monthly stats come the end of June. Last year, his production in pretty much every offensive category when down each month. He's been warming the bench a lot lately--maybe the rest will do him good. Edited June 2, 2009 by Three Finger

[Vanilla Ice]

I happen to like the 1.4 multiplier, which would say that at most normal OBP levels getting 100 points of SLG for 50 points of OBP is the right move. Looking at how each correlates to runs scored over the last few years, I don't really think a higher multiplier is prudent anymore.

Fair enough. 1.4 is on the low end of the multipliers I've seen suggested, and OBP has more value at the top of the order in front of the team's sluggers. 50 to 100 could very well be a wash.

50 to 100 may be a wash. However, as somebody else pointed out, Theriot's OBP was probably not going to be .387 ever again. His OBP is at .352 now which he can sustain. He might be able to improve on that OBP with his walk rate going back to last year's. I would certainly trade about 30 points of OBP for 99 points of SLG (his current improvement from last year)