The Fukudume Effect: There or Not There.

    We all have heard about the difference in this team since Fukudome arrived here, that difference being the willingness to take pitches and walks that this team sorely lacked over the last few years and quite frankly, historically. But a) has there really been that big of a difference between this year's team and last year's team in those departments and b) if so, is that the real reason for the team's success?

    When looking at the numbers for each significant player, they show that the Fukudome effect is very, very real. To measure the difference between plate patience this year and plate patience last year, I just looked at the difference in walk rates, and although it would help to also check out swing percentages on pitches in and out of the zone and P/PA, I really didn't have time to analyze all of those numbers. Anyhow, the numbers end up like this. (2007 Walk Rate/ 2008 Walk Rate/ Career Walk Rate)

1. Soto 8.5%/ 12%/ 11%    +3.6
   
2. Lee 11%/ 9.8%/ 11.3%  -1.3
   
3. DeRosa 10.4%/ 12.7%/ 8.7%  +2.3
   
4. Theriot 8.4%/ 11%/ 9.8%   +2.6
   
5. Fontenot 8.6%/ 11.3%/ 10.2%   +2.7
6. Cedeno 3.9%/ 7.9%/ 4.4%   +4
   
7. Ramirez 7.8%/ 12.2% / 7.3%   +4.4
   
8. Soriano 5.1%/ 7.9%/ 5.6%   +2.3
   
9. Johnson 5.5%/ 5.6%/ 5.4%   +.2
   
10. Edmonds 10.1%/ 15.5%/ 12.8%   +5.4

    As you can see, nearly every single player has walked significantly more than this year, with the one exception being the subject of my last post, Derrek Lee. But even Lee has started turning things around, with a walk rate of 12.7% over the last thirty days, good for seventh among qualified Major League first baseman. The biggest mover over both last year's and his career rate is my favorite Cub, Aramis Ramirez.  The Cubs as a team have taken last year's .333 OBP and have obliterated it, currently sitting at .359. Some of that can be explained by their eleven point jump in BA, but as you can see, the improvement in plate patience can be seen throughout the lineup. Whats more impressive is that not only have some of the youngsters improved their OBP, but that established veterans, such as Soriano, DeRosa, Ramirez and Edmonds have done so. Len Kasper, on ESPN 1000 this morning, pointed out that Soriano is in the mids of his first career five game walk streak, which is a bit crazy when you think about it. Could it be that the Cubs' coaching staff realized that plate patience was the reason they weren't great last year and put a newfound emphasis on taking pitches and walks even before Fukudome arrived? perhaps, but its probably no coincidence that the team started walking more right around the time that Kosuke hit the North Side.

Side Point: Other reason for Cubs success are:

Pitching- Better ERA, K/BB, BB/G, WHIP

Hitting- Higher ISO, AVG.

Defense- 5 point improvement in defensive efficiency.

All told, while the most notable improvement in the team is starting pitching and it's plate approach, the team has actually gotten better in almost every single important category in all three facets of the game.