With the Sox off, I watched a lot of the Cubs-Mets game, mainly to keep tabs on Kosuke Fukudome. He didn't disappoint, hitting a key single in a big eighth inning in a 10-pitch at-bat, which was preceded by a nine-pitch single in his previous at-bat.
Toe-to-toe, he and Nick Swisher match up pretty well in a battle of new Chicago outfielders:
| |
AB |
XBH |
RBI |
BB |
K |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
P/PA |
| Fukudome |
67 |
6 |
9 |
14 |
13 |
.328 |
.444 |
.463 |
4.58 |
| Swisher |
57 |
3 |
5 |
17 |
12 |
.246 |
.421 |
.368 |
4.29 |
Fukudome has an edge in most categories, but considering the small sample sizes and different roles they serve in the lineup, this is practically a push.
I'm rooting for Fukudome for a couple reasons:
- So I don't look like an idiot.
- So it looks like the Sox exhibited smart evaluation.
If Fukudome fell on his face, sure, it would be a lot of fun to see the media tear the Cubs' hair out for them. But then again, the Sox wanted Fukudome just as much as the Cubs, so it wouldn't speak well for the Sox if the only thing that prevented Fukudome from playing on the South Side was the team eight miles north.
Outside of the aforementioned duo, the two outfielders I wanted the Sox to avoid are faring pretty well themselves:
Torii "The Grass Runs True" Hunter: .319/.382/.580 over 76 PA, six doubles, four homers, five walks, 11 strikeouts.
Aaron Rowand: .333/.365/.500 over 52 PA, five doubles, one homer, three walks, 15 strikeouts. If you couldn't guess by the strikeout total, he's being helped out by an extremely high BABIP (.469).
So it appears that after three weeks, every team that made a significant investment in a center fielder has to be fairly happy with the early returns.
Unless two years and $18 million counts as "significant."***************************
To follow up on
yesterday's discussion of nicknames, here's what I have for Jim Thome. It's more than
just a mustache:
I'm tempted to rejigger it for a t-shirt.
***************************
Minor league roundup:- Birmingham 6, West Tenn 1
- Derek Rodriguez and Fernando Hernandez threw 4 2/3 hitless innings of relief, striking out five combined.
- Starter Justin Cassell allowed eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, but induced four double plays. The Barons turned five on the night.
- Miguel Negron went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI, but failed to score because he was caught stealing twice.
- Micah Schnurstein and Javier Castillo had two hits and two RBI apiece; Schnurstein drew two walks, Castillo one.
- Winston-Salem 2, Potomac 0
- Jacob Rasner threw seven innings of one-hit ball, striking out six and walking three. He lowered his ERA to an even 1.00.
- The Warthogs struck out 10 times, but Brandon Allen homered for the second straight game, a solo shot.
- Anderson Gomes had two hits; Sergio Miranda picked up his second RBI of the year.
- Kanekoa Teixeira picked up his third save with a perfect ninth, striking out one.
- Charlotte vs. Richmond PPD
- Kannapolis OFF