I’m no expert on hitting, but to me it looks like Fukudome is bailing out every time he swings. His rear end is moving AWAY from home plate as he swings… As a result his balance seems poor and there seems to be an exaggerated twistiness (to use a technical term) to his swing. So, to me, it seems like he has some things to work out, and 31 seems a bit late to be remaking ones swing, especially with what he’s being paid.

It’s funny to me to see your numbers now because Shandler predicted he would hit .260 this year, so he was almost right on with his BA.

2007: .294
2006: .351
2004: .277
2003: .313
2002: .343

And he’s actually only 31. But we will see how he does.

Fukudome Heckled at O’Hare Airport

Kosuke Fukudome’s downfall has led to booing at Wrigley Field, and now he’s getting no respect.
Passengers at O’Hare Airport were surprised to hear his name being paged over the public address system in Terminal B on Friday morning.
But it turned out that it was all a joke.
“Paging Kosuke Fukudome, paging Kosuke Fukudome … Please report to the Cincinnati Reds. You have been traded for a player to be named later.”
Some of the passengers waiting for flights laughed, while others cringed.
Either way, it looks like Chicago’s love affair with the Japanese star is officially over.

On the other hand, KF (Fukodome) is now 32 years old and he’s on the downside of his career. And even with that, KF’s numbers in Japan weren’t earth shattering even in his prime seasons (ages 28-31), especially concerning Batting Average. He always walks, but his average has always been pretty low. The numbers I’ve seen have him hitting under .260 3 out of the last 5 years in Japan. And of those 3, he hit .224 one year and .247 in another. IMO, that’s not very good, no matter how many times you’re walking.

Who knows, Matt. Maybe he’s playing hurt, but he needs to figure it out soon. From a fundamental aspect, his swing seems to have way too many moving parts and it seems to hinder his contact rate.

I think for the kinds of numbers he’s giving the Cubs so far, his contract is far too high and for too many years.

You bring up Schumaker. He’s already 28 and LaRussa didn’t even play him his first 3 years. Aren’t you glad they stuck with him?

I agree with you on the OBP factor and defensive abilities, BUT he hit about .225 over the last 4 months of the season and that is ALARMING, to say the least. He looks lost at the plate and the fact that he made no adjustments during the year is even more reason to be worried. I don’t know why you think he needs an entire offseason to figure out how to make adjustments at the plate. That’s what all good hitters do. You seem to have your Cub blinders on for this guy just because he takes pitches and plays good D.

Look, there are a lot of outfielders in the majors who make FAR less money and are able to do the things that Fukodome does. Skip Schumaker makes $400,000 and he’s a very similar player. Hell, even Matt Murton is a similar kind of player. Fukodome is basically a 4th outfielder in this league. The bottom line is the Cubs took a huge risk in signing Fukodome to such a long and expensive deal and now they’re stuck with him. But at least he brings in a bunch of Japanese fans to Wrigley.