MLB New Import Tracker (Aug 13-27, 2008)

Kosuke Fukudome, RF—#1—Chicago Cubs
Birthplace: Kagoshima, Japan
Manager Lou Piniella fired a shot across Fukudome’s bow in early August, telling reporters that unless his right fielder began to hit a little bit, he’d be forced to go with other options. Immediately, the hyper-sensitive Chicago sports media types got all crazed, and Piniella came out the next night said he didn’t mean to create such a big stir. Take that for what it’s worth—this is the same manager that has basically admitted to occasionally getting thrown out of games on purpose to take attention away from his slumping (or, in the case of Zambrano/Barrett circa 2007, brawling) players. Either way, his words seemed to take about a week and a half to translate themselves into Japanese, but maybe—just maybe—Mr. Clutch-san is starting to turn his ship around. He came off the bench to blast a pinch-hit homerun on Sunday, then followed that up in Monday’s game by going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a double. That mini-outburst got his OPS for the month of August up to a whopping .538. Two things occur to me: 1) John Dewan’s prediction for Fukudome’s final numbers wasn’t that far off and 2) Don’t count on Fukudome tearing it up down the stretch.

Kazuo Fukumori, RP—#14—Texas Rangers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Demoted to AAA-Oklahoma.

Masahide Kobayashi, RP—#30—Cleveland Indians
Birthplace: Yamanashi, Japan
In the reality television show that is the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen, it’s pretty clear that Jensen Lewis is now officially the man. With a save last night, he has more saves than anyone else on the staff in 2008—and he’s only been closing for oh, about the last seventeen days. And what of Masa Kobayashi? A couple low-pressure situations in August did nothing to straighten him out: He blew the save on Monday against the Detroit Tigers, entering the game in the seventh inning with a man on first. Kobayashi promptly threw a wild pitch, advancing the runner, then allowed a base hit to put men on the corners before Brandon Inge singled home the tying run. One of the uglier performances you’ll see actually—Kobayashi threw only six pitches, two of which were hit and one of which was unhittable (read: wild). His ERA for August stands at 22.50.

But maybe none of this should be surprising—or at any rate, there were warning signs. May was the only month Kobayashi posted a K rate anywhere near one per-inning-pitched (13 Ks in 14 innings). In April and June his K rate was nearly one strikeout per every two innings pitched, and there’s no way you can survive like that in the big leagues. His K rate is up closer to one per inning since the All-Star Break, but batters are also batting a slow-pitch-softball-like .625 against him for August. That won’t be sustained either, although it is a concern that in five August appearances he’s only logged two innings—he’s just not getting anyone out. Somewhere between the stellar performance Kobayashi turned in during the month of May and the woeful performance he’s turned in since the break is exactly how I see him performing in 2009—a serviceable reliever, but not a setup guy and not, by any stretch of the imagination, a closer.

Hiroki Kuroda, RP—#18 —Los Angeles Dodgers
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
One thing that definitely does not translate into Japanese—at least as far as Hiroki Kuroda is concerned—is that clichéd phrase “the dog days of August.” Only CC Sabathia (and arguably, Rich Harden) are having better months than our Japanese import. Check out this line: in five August games he’s 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and a 5-to-1 K/BB ratio (25 Ks against only 5 BBs). While this is not so far away from the line he posted in May, his success might be attributed to a new exercise regimen. Hey, running helps clear my head too, so I can feel where he’s coming from.

Alexei Ramirez, OF/2B—#10—Chicago White Sox
Birthplace: Pinar del Rio, Cuba
I was stoked to flip on the television Monday night and see Alexei Ramirez starting at shortstop and hitting leadoff against the Orioles. He proceeded to go 4-for-5 with two runs and a double. A harbinger of things to come? Count on it. In 2009, The Missile will be the White Sox’ leadoff man and starting shortstop. You read it here, if not first, at least early. Ramirez hit the game-winning single in extra innings on Sunday, after a bizarre baserunning play as sneaky bastard-cum-Hollywood-starlet AJ Pierzynksi kept the inning alive. Ramirez has his OBP up to .343, and since he started getting regular playing time his OBP stands at .357. He’s still not drawing walks, but if he keeps rapping out hits, I’ll stop complaining eventually.

Yasuhiko Yabuta, RP—#27—Kansas City Royals
Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
Optioned to AAA-Omaha.