Night and day
OK, that's a cliche, but stick with me. It means something to today's conversation. Cubs right fielder Kosuke Fukudome ought to be the happiest man on the team about returning home to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs open a three-game weekend series against the D'Backs beginning tomorrow.
Fukudome has absolutely torn it up at Wrigley Field this year while struggling on the road. At home, he's 26-for-58 for a .448 batting average. He also has a .543 on-base percentage at Wrigley Field and a .638 slugging percentage.
Away from the Friendly Confines, it's a different story. He's 14-for-67 (.209) with an OBP of .289 and a slugging percentage of .299.
Here's where it gets more interesting: In day games, Fukudome is 26-for-64 for a .406 batting average. He has an OBP of .500 in natural light. During night games, Fukudome is 14-for-61 (.230) with an OBP of .314. As long as Fukudome is around, maybe the Cubs ought to shelve the idea of wanting more night games at Wrigley Field.
Like many of his teammates, including Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa, Fukudome didn't have the greatest of road trips, going 4-for-23 against the Cardinals and Reds. My friends in the Japanese media tell me pitchers in Japan throw a lot of split-finger pitches and forkballs, but not a lot of changeups. Over here, Fukudome is seeing a whole lot of changeups of late, and it'll be up to him to adjust. Let's keep an eye on this.
On to other things for an off-day:
--It looks like the Cubs won't carry 13 pitchers after all when Scott Eyre comes off the DL Saturday. That means somebody on the pitching staff will have to go. The easiest choice probably will be Sean Gallagher, who came up when Rich Hill got optioned to Iowa last Saturday. If that happens, manager Lou Piniella probably will give Jon Lieber at least one more start, next week against the Padres at Wrigley Field. Lefty Sean Marshall probably needs another extended relief outing or two to get stretched out.
--Catcher Geovany Soto is the early favorite for Rookie of the Year. Soto has shown last September's performance was for real.
--A lot of my regular readers and some on my favorite blogs and message boards keep waiting for shortstop Ryan Theriot to falter so Ronny Cedeno can take over. I've never understood this negative kind of thinking. Theriot is batting .331 with an OBP of .406. He deserves the benefit of the doubt until he shows he can't do it anymore. Go ahead and laugh about Theriot's alleged "grit," but he worked hard in the off-season to get himself into shape and to make adjustments with his swing. There's nothing wrong with a little grit as long as it's producing results.
Ok, I covered this in depth at http://www.CubHub.net but shouldn't Pie be sent down for more seasoning outside the spotlight of the big league club? In 60 at-bats this year, he's struck out 22 times! A great fielder (ask Ken Griffey about Pie catching his HR on Monday) but still can't hit the cutoff man.
Pie needs more time at AAA to figure out how to make contact and run like the wind rather than his big, looping, swiss-cheese swings. His impression of Corey Patterson is becoming too convincing...
http://blog.cubhub.net/2008/05/09/time-to-slice-pie-to-aaa/
I wrote a rebuttal (well, not quite a rebuttal - more an explanation) here:
http://www.goatriders.org/friday-morning-odds-and-ends-being-on-fire-edi...
I don't know if this came through well in the piece, but here's the quick version: I don't see any reason that Theriot deserves a shot that doesn't also apply to Cedeno, who's younger and has more physical tools. Is sheer incumbency enough to offset the higher ceiling of Cedeno? That's a judgement call.
But while Theriot has picked up his game on offense, his defense has worsened. (So has his baserunning, apparently.) So there are also downsides to Theriot's performance so far, as well as the upside.
... Theriot and related matters today at http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2008/5/8/482446/nature-vs-nurture
I like Theriot. He's hit very well and Lou likes playing the hot hand. As I wrote I don't think Theriot has the range nor the arm to play SS on an everyday basis. Nevertheless he is a valuable part of this team for quite a number of reasons.
Yeah, I too think you give Lieber one more shot. If he blows up like he did yesterday, then it's probably time to look for alternatives (Marshall?) and hope to you-know-what that Hill gets things straightened out.
I for one am one of those who definitely want to see Cedeno get more playing time, but not at the expense of The Riot; I think you have to look at 2nd base where both Fontentot and DeRosa have been kind of disappointing of late.
Nothing like coming off a 9-0 beating (at the hands of a Dustbag-managed team, nonetheless) and facing the "juggernaut" D-backs right off the bat.