Kosuke Fukudome: Ideal Lead-Off Man

After his first game in blue pin-stripes, he became a household name in the Chicago-area.

In his time on the team, Kosuke's started in an All-star game and has been heralded as a potential superstar. He's also been jeered as a "48 million dollar defensive replacement," not to mention being booed incessantly after the All-star break in 2008 continuing all the way into the playoffs. For everything this 32-year old  "sophomore"  has gone through, we have found out one purveying factor to his game.

His patience at the plate is ever-present, even in his unbelievable slumps. It is very difficult to find a month in his short major league career where his on-base percentage isn't safely .100 points above his batting average. This season he leads the team in walks (45) and on-base percentage (.384).

Fans tend to get hung up on batting average and stolen bases when looking for top of the order hitters, and following that train of thought is outdated. Just look at the facts roughly: Kosuke gets on base very well, and although Kosuke is only hitting .268 right now, he still owns an .823 OPS and is on pace for 56 extra-base hits.

Breaking that down simply, that means he is still getting on base a lot and he's putting himself in scoring position plenty of times. Those abilities are quite obviously the most important features of a top-of-the-order offensive player.

There are not too many other legitimate lead-off options on this team. Although Ryan Theriot has been a consistent at-bat this season he has seemingly lost much of his on-base skill he put on show last season, now that he has gained a slight edge in the power department. Everyone who complains about Soriano not getting on base enough the past 2 seasons would be massive hypocrites to want Theriot leading off. He has a .344 On-base percentage right now, which is identical to Soriano's in 2008.

What other options do they have in-house? Bradley? Fontenot? There's not really any contest there.

Kosuke is the best option on this team, and that's not a back-handed compliment. He'd be a good option for plenty of teams. As long as he can hit in this realm for the rest of the season there should be no complaints about his production. "Fooky" has been just electric in his first three games in the one hole. If he can even improve his offensive game just slightly for the rest of the season, to pair with his exceptional defense in center, he's going to arguably be worth that 48 million dollar contract.