Cubs manager Lou Piniella is getting frustrated with severely slumping right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, so much so that he’s threatening to bench his high-priced Japanese All-Star if he doesn’t start finding the space between the leather.
“We have him in the 2-hole, but we need him to start hitting or we’ll have to look for more options,” Piniella said Sunday night after the Cubs 6-2 victory over the Cardinals. “[Mike] Fontenot needs to get some at-bats, [Mark] DeRosa has been hitting. We need Fukudome to start hitting.”
For the last month and a half, Fukudome has looked like a clueless low-level minor leaguer. He’s pulling his back foot on most of his swings and doesn’t seem to be hustling on the basepaths in the least.
We Cubs fans are desperate to worship him, however…as evidenced by the rousing “FU-KU-DO-ME” chant by 41,000 nutjobs after he made a spectacular diving catch in right late in the game last night.
Somebody get Ichiro on the phone to give Kosuke some much needed veteran MLB pennant-race advice.
