MESA, Ariz. (AP) -The Chicago Cubs can expect to hear from Kosuke Fukudome more often this season.
The Japanese player who struggled in his first year with the franchise last season said Thursday that he will be more vocal about his wants and needs in order to be more successful.
“I understand what major leagues are about (now) and I would like to start speaking up a little more to make sure (my) thoughts are being heard,” Fukudome said through interpreter Hiro Aoyama on Thursday.
Fukudome returned to Cubs spring training as a member of Team Japan as it played an exhibition game at HoHoKam Park in preparation for the second round of the World Baseball Classic.
Fukudome went 1-for-4 and drove in what turned out to be the winning run in Japan’s 3-2 victory.
coach Gerald Perry tweaked his stance.
Fukudome hit .188 over the last two months of the regular season and then .100 in the postseason. It was hardly the type of performance the organization thought it would get for four years and $48 million.
Fukudome, 31, took the demotion to heart during the offseason. He said he started taking batting practice immediately after returning to Japan, worked with his former hitting coach and focused on getting stronger with core training.
“It didn’t feel good at all, but I understood what my condition was at the end of the season,” he said.
He gets a fresh start in 2009 where he will move from everyday rightfielder to platooning in center field with Reed Johnson.
“Compared to the way I was at this time of the year last year, I am actually better than I was before,” said Fukudome, who was a .305 career hitter with 192 home runs and 647 RBIs in 1,074 games in Japan.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Fukudome, who is playing center field for Team Japan, will be better equipped in his second season.
“This guy has had a very, very successful career,” Piniella said. “I don’t see any reason he can’t come in here and do what he did the first few months of last year. He will certainly be more acclimated, know what to expect and he will know the pitching a lot better.”
Piniella said it was the first time he has seen someone continue to have their numbers decline with each passing month.
“There was such a variance from start to finish, but I think he learned a lot from last year,” Piniella said. “He, obviously, is a talented young man. He will figure it out.”
The media attention for Fukudome is expected to be lessened this year.
“That will be a whole lot easier on him,” Piniella said. “The scrutiny and pressure of the first year is over. He will relax and play baseball the way he is capable.”
Fukudome, who hit .286 in seven at-bats with four walks and two runs scored in Japans first-round games, is ready for season two.
“I just want to go back to what is comfortable and that is the only thing I want to do,” he said.
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