hes starting pretty much like he did last year. getting hits and walking a ton. hopefully this year he wont nosedive but until i see this fukudome after the all star break im going to assume he will

He seems to be turning it around. I am REALLY hopeful I was wrong about him.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

It looks like Fukudome has a new approach at the plate and I like it. Last year it seemed like he waited until he had 2 strikes before taking a couple of good cuts. This year he doesn't seem to be afraid to hit a good pitch early in the count. I'm all for working the count, but sometimes you have to swing at that first or second-pitch fastball. It keeps each at-bat less predictible, which is only gonna help Fukudome in the long run.

Fukudome is showing his trend. This is exactly what he did last year. He starts hot, then beginning in Mid-May he's on a steady decline the rest of the year. This to me shows that the Cubs need to start thinking HARD about giving him more opportunity at this point. His trend is to decline. I don't see at this point that he is capable of improving. I mean, the numbers don't lie man.
Check it out:
Batting Average:
April '08: .305 – 2009: .388
May '08: .293 – 2009: .277
June '08: .264 – 2009: .122
July ’08: .236
Aug ’08: .193
Sept ’08: .178
OBP:
April '08: .416 – 2009: .461
May '08: .388 – 2009: .415
June '08: .387 – 2009: .234
July ’08: .306
Aug ’08: .293
Sept ’08: .288
OPS:
April '08: .937 – 2009: 1.053
May '08: .792 – 2009: .830
June '08: .789 – 2009: .405
July ’08: .688
Aug ’08: .546
Sept ’08: .577

_________________
"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Sadly he's declining faster than last year. His June 08 batting average dipped a little from May 08, but his OBP and OPS were similar. His June 09 OBP and OPS are on a sharp decline. Not a good thing at all.

Good stuff Darkie, will be interesting to see if he follows the same trend throughout the year.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I must have not gotten in the rest of the OPS numbers, sorry. Sorry because that is the only catagory where there is any month to month improvement in his numbers (August to Sept '08 OPS) and I forgot to add it to the bottom of the post.



Hey man, I am a big believer in Numbers. That's why I love baseball so much. I also believe in trends, and Fuk's numbers are about as consistant as you can get in their decline. It's really fairly amazing... each month is always worse than the last.

_________________
"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

If he does continue that trend I think he'll be batting about -.438 by September. Wonder if any stupid team will see some potential and the Cubs could get a good bullpen arm for him and a prospect???

Somebody might be willing to give up a little something for him, but you can bet that the Cubs are gonna be on the hook for a very good chunk of that contract.

Anybody know if his numbers declined like this in Japan too?

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He's making $11.5M this season and will make $13M next season and $13.5M in '11. He also has some 'perks' in his contract:

8 first-class round-trip air tickets between Japan and Chicago for family each year, personal trainer, masseuse, interpreter, visa expenses, $25,000 annually in moving expenses, vehicle during spring training and regular season.


Oh yeah, and no-trade protection.

Jesus.

But its all Gerald Perry's fault.

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Basically,Hendry should be fired for weighing this team down with the 3 losers in the outfield. The only one that I feel is going to rebound is Bradley. Soriano's hot streaks seem a lot shorter then his slumps. Fukadome is the Asian version of Reed Johnson.
Great defense & will get you some hit's here & there. He would have been an OK aquisition at 2 years for about 2 mil a year. What he is getting paid is a crime!

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."