Kosuke Fukudome Makes His Case To Stay: Two-Run HR Give Cubs Win Over Reds
by Al Yellon on Aug 29, 2010 7:30 AM CDT
in Chicago Cubs Recaps
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PrintThe Cubs' outfield is overcrowded right now; Tyler Colvin made sure of that with his good rookie year, and the Cubs would probably like to deal Kosuke Fukudome not only to make fulltime room for Colvin, but to free up $14 million dollars off the 2011 payroll.
Fukudome, though, has been playing well lately; in 21 games this month he is hitting .367/.465/.617 with three HR and 10 RBI (71 plate appearances). His two-run homer last night broke a 1-1 tie and made the difference in the Cubs' 3-2 win over the Reds, their first win over Cincinnati since July 3. It also tied Fukudome's career high of 11 homers, set last year. The Cubs improved to 4-1 under Mike Quade.
Xavier Nady provided the other run for the Cubs with a solo homer, his first since June 10. I doubt Nady will be back next year; it has taken almost five months for him to really begin hitting as the Cubs hoped he would. Nady, too, is having a good August, hitting .306/.386/.468 with seven doubles and one HR in 70 plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Randy Wells posted his first win in over a month by throwing six solid innings on his 28th birthday -- his "golden birthday", since yesterday was the 28th of the month. Wells has had an up and down season. He has had 19 starts in which he's gone at least six innings, but also two horrific outings in which he didn't make it out of the second inning. Those two starts account for 14% of his earned runs allowed this year; take those out of his record (yeah, yeah, I know you can't, but bear with me for a minute) and his ERA in the other 25 starts is more than half a run lower than his season era (4.50) at 3.93.
Andrew Cashner had one of his quick innings last night, throwing only eight pitches. He's done this before -- that seems to be his specialty. When he has his command he gets hitters to beat the ball into the ground. The bad outings seem to occur when his 95+ fastball is flat and hitters sit on it and hit home runs. That's something for him to work on before next year.
James Russell also made his case for next year's bullpen with a scoreless inning. Of all the rookie relievers this season, it would appear that Russell and Cashner are probably the only ones who will return in 2011 -- and yes, I believe Cashner is better suited to a setup role than starting.
The Cubs have a chance to win a series from the Reds for the first time this year and although they'd still have a bad record against Cincinnati, at least that would end the season series on an up note. The game preview will post at 10:30 am CDT.
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Any Deep (Goat) Thoughts lately?
Given recent improved play by Dome and Nady, any chance they’re dealt by Aug 31? Have they at least cleared waivers?
Also, with the Tyler Colvin 1B Experiment (sounds like a great name for a band) apparently dead, any insight as to why? He just didn’t look good there during practice? Cubs wanted to showcase Nady instead? Maybe some other reason?
Anything else that might be of interest?
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
I haven't heard anything about waivers...
… I assume both of them have cleared. No one’s going to claim Fukudome’s contract, if anyone did, the Cubs would probably just let him go.
Nady might be worth it to someone, but there many not be a team who needs him.
There are only three days left to deal someone and still have him eligible for the postseason.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Never heard of a "golden birthday."
Learned something new today.
"Fasten those seatbelts!"-Pat Hughes
Your kids never told you about that?
That’s how I found out about it.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
They both were born on a 2nd (11 months apart).
They wouldn’t have known to tell us at the age of two. Regret to say my husband and I have LONG past ours.
"Fasten those seatbelts!"-Pat Hughes
Golden birthdays are fun
I remember my mom giving me a gold bracelet on my golden birthday when I was 27…just the other day! LOL
My Late Grandmother
Had the mother of all Golden Birthdays: She turned 19 on April 19, 1919.
by Josh Timmers on Aug 29, 2010 10:53 AM CDT up reply actions
That is really cool.
A lovely story:
One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who didn't whine, nag or bitch. That would be me....
But that was a long time ago and it was just that one day.
The end
Golden birthdays are fun
I remember my mom giving me a gold bracelet on my golden birthday when I was 27…just the other day! LOL
Mine was turning 21.
Two other (non-“golden” birthday) co-celebrants in that house that day, it was quite the blowout.
I wonder if it took this long for Dome to understand American MLB pitching.
And I wonder if he leaves for somewhere else he will start getting real good (aka the Lou Brock/Jon Garland/etc effect)
"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.
Possible.
The Cubs might be stuck with him, anyway.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Speaking of Japanese baseball...it isn't legal in the MLB to climb on the outfield wall and catch a HR, right?
I ask because of this video here of it happening in Japan
"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.
Actually, yes, I believe that is legal in MLB.
There aren’t many MLB walls built like that, but if a player could do it and reach over and catch a ball, it would be legal.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Fukudome has had plenty of great months in his career.
He’s had some really, really bad ones, too. Given his history, I’m inclined to think he’s not much different a hitter than he’s always been in MLB. Just on a hot streak at the moment. Maybe there’s something encoded in the wild fluctuations in his month-to-month stats. A cat-and-mouse game of adjustments with pitchers, or cycles of fatigue and rest. Or maybe his hot streaks and slumps have just lined up with month boundaries more than most players’ over his short MLB career.
Alternately, if you look at his year-by-year numbers you can see incremental improvement. His substantive improvement in 2009 was in power, and in 2010 it’s been cutting down strikeouts. I’m not sure that, given his apparent streakiness, it’s correct to see any smooth patterns. It’s certainly not correct to extrapolate too much from them.
Fukodome should stay-Colvin to 1b
Fukodome has been hot recently & is one of our best defensive outfielders. Why trade him & have to pay out 50% of his contract to start for another team Thats throwing away money. The “cant understand” question for the week is why Colvin is playing 1b after only playing 1.5 games the previous week getting ready to start with Quade’s 1st game at the helm. Nady is getting too much playing time.
This team is not as bad off as we think for next year. We need to add a starter or 2 & build up the relief corp. Lets not forget about the return of Guzman & Caridad who we never hear any updates on ther injuries & surgeries. I firmly believe in “Ryno” as our next manager & drop Hill, Nady, Baker, & Berg as subs & go with top minor league hopefuls.
I'm happy some players are finally performing better now that the Cubs are out of it but
it’s also troubling a bit that it took “being out of it” for it to happen. Maybe it’s just coincidence, but I’m really less impressed by players piling up better numbers when the heat’s off.
Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? ... Larry?
Larry: Lollygaggers!
Skip: Lollygaggers.
That's a valid point, but...
… playing well any time is still a good thing. The 2006 team, a similar bunch to this group, went 11-17 in September. I’d like to think the 2010 team can do better than that.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
If playing well now and in September
carries over into 2011, then it IS a good thing.
Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? ... Larry?
Larry: Lollygaggers!
Skip: Lollygaggers.
Agreed.
Now if they can just DO it ;)
Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? ... Larry?
Larry: Lollygaggers!
Skip: Lollygaggers.
That's a big if.
Starlin Castro singles on a pop up to catcher Jason LaRue.
Ryan Theriot scores. Two out -Gameday 7/23/10
by Sandberg's evil twin on Aug 29, 2010 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions
It’s good for whatever reason that Fukodome and Zambrano are being productive now, but lets not fall for it. This will hopefully increase their trade value. I do agree though that it is stupid to pay the majority of their contracts and replace them with someone of equal or lesser value. Colvin not playing 1st seems to mean they have other (bigger plans hopefully) for next year at that position. Most good teams get huge production from their corner positions, everyone loves Colvin, not sure huge numbers are his m.o.
by Comfortably Numb on Aug 29, 2010 8:29 AM CDT reply actions
Some people seem to think that Zambrano has become a total albatross.
He’s actually been pretty good the last few years and considering the ridiculous bullpen-rotation shuffle he went through this year, not to mention going through anger management because he was the only guy on the team who seemed to care about winning, I’d take his numbers this year with a grain of salt. He’s had several excellent outings and just a few stinkers that really bring down his overall ERA. I think he brings more value to the Cubs in next year’s rotation than in a salary dump trade.
by cubsforever on Aug 29, 2010 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Quade's approach to managing seems
to have a good mixture of …for lack of better words, fun and seriousness.
I would think that would have an effect on the players, to some extent.
Cubs beat Arroyo.
You know things are going well. Face Wood today who has beaten the Cubs twice. Lets hope the Cubs won’t get beat by the rookie the 3rd time.
I would love for the Cubs to be able to trade Dome, so to free up money for 1stbase, and a starter/bullpen help. Sure he is doing well now, but 3rd year in on his deal, Dome is pretty good player. Cubs need a 1st basemen that is better than pretty good.
Dome has run in streaks of
hot and cold and it seems this is the pattern . His defense is stellar but his problems at the plate bother me . I cant see any team trying to grab him .
I don't know what to think of Kosuke Fukudome.
He’s a pretty good defensive right fielder, he produces numbers that are…alright. I’d like his numbers if a .780 OPS and 32 HR and 148 RBI were…from a second baseman…not a corner outfielder. He’s not a very useful everyday player, because against LHP he cork-screws himself into a OPS+ of 74, which is crappy enough to cork-screw himself all the way through the earth back to Japan. We’re paying him way too much, but I understand that at the time he was a pretty hot commodity, and he signed with us for less than he could have with other teams. I like that the Cubs pursued a player like Kosuke—perhaps it opened up the market for future Japanese players to come play here, because Chicago surely doesn’t seem like a hotbed for foreign players like Boston or Shea—but I think this experiment should come to an end. As a corner outfielder we are getting below market value from a position we desperately could use some offense.
Dan
"The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money." --Ernie Banks
by dtpollitt on Aug 29, 2010 9:57 AM CDT reply actions 2 recs
Fun fact
cork-screw himself all the way through the earth back to Japan
It would take 42 minutes to travel between any two points on the earth’s surface by going through it.
by Shanghai Badger on Aug 29, 2010 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions
If anyone could do it with that corkscrew swing, Fukudome could.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Or, if he achieved enough lift,
He could fly himself to Japan too.
I didn't believe it last August, but it turns out that love survives.
Mount Washington conquered July 5, 2010! State high point count: 3/50
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Aug 29, 2010 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions
He was the first Japanese player to come to the Cubs.
From what I’ve seen, Japanese players are only beginning to come over to play in MLB here. Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui were, in many ways, the first everyday players to come over here.
Kosuke is not an everyday player IMO, but I hope that if he goes back to Japan to play, he tells the players there that Wrigley Field is a great place to play. Shouldn’t take him long … he could just helicopter himself to Japan. With the lift he can achieve, he could just fly over there without too much of a problem.
I didn't believe it last August, but it turns out that love survives.
Mount Washington conquered July 5, 2010! State high point count: 3/50
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Aug 29, 2010 10:23 AM CDT up reply actions
Minor Quibble, Al.
James Russell also made his case for next year’s bullpen with a scoreless inning.
It’s pretty safe to say that guys can’t really “make a case for next year” based on one inning, or one game. I’d argue that any numbers from this point on are near irrelevant. There are numerous cases of guys that have played well in September when there’s no pressure on a team that’s far gone, then disappear on April and May.
The only relevance of Dome’s numbers is if they can suck some team in to taking his contract. I trust the numbers I’ve seen from him for the last 2+ years over the last month.
Scott Bora$ is satan.
by Canadian Cubs Fan on Aug 29, 2010 9:58 AM CDT reply actions
Russell, though, appears to be one of the only rookies with real major league talent.
Yesterday’s game was against a division leader before roster expansion.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Russell does look like a useful piece for next year
but of course we have the $4.8 million dollar man so who needs a cheap lefty in the pen?
John Grabow: $4.8 million in 2011.
The Cubs could use both.
Presuming Grabow is even as decent as he was with the Pirates, that could help.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Everyone loves Colvin around here (myself included) but I'm not really sure he's that much better than Fukudome.
He has way more power, certainly, but Kosuke’s defense far outclasses Colvin’s. And Dome is streaky, but he’s capable of brilliance for a month at a time and his year-end numbers are always decent. I don’t really see that much difference between the two – both good fourth outfielders/platoon guys who can be starting outfielders in a good year.
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