Yesterday on ESPN.com’s weekly chat, where fans ask ESPN analyst questions and they respond with their opinions, a couple fans asked questions regarding Kosuke Fukudome’s poor spring.

ESPN.com

One fan wondered if Fukudome would get off to as slow a career in Major League Baseball as Kaz Matsui, who struggled mightily as a New York Met, but has since shown signs of improvement with the Colorado Rockies, which led to a big deal with the Houston Astros. Kieth Law’s response was:

“I like him better than that. Kaz Matsui had poor walk rates in Japan. That seems to matter for guys who come over.”

Although Kosuke Fukudome has struggled at the plate thus far, he has remained patient at the plate. Compiling 14 base on balls with an on base percentage of .409 through Tuesday evening.

Another fan asked whether is was fair to proclaim Fukudome a bust already. Noting his lack of plate coverage, and coverage, and his bat shattering, weakly hit ground balls. ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian responded to this noting his poor spring, but stating it is way to early to label Kosuke Fukudome a bust:

“He has not had a good spring, and it is way too early to suggest that he is going to be a bust. Keep in mind that Ichiro hit a bunch of soft singles and weak ground balls to the left side his first spring. Lou Piniella privately wondered if he was going to be able to hit in the bigs. Of course, he went on to be the rookie of the year and MVP. Fukudome is no Ichiro, but he is going to be an above-average major league outfielder who is going to hit between 15 and 20 homers, around .280, and will be well above average on the bases and defensively. It’s a huge adjustment coming from Japan, he hasn’t made it yet, but he will.”

It is crazy to think Cub fans are already upset with Fukudome’s play. Yes, it may be a bit disappointing not to see him producing All-Star numbers right off the bat, but remember, he only has 52 big league at bats thus far. He is still considered a rookie in the Majors. And remember this, his numbers now, if he does make the Hall of Fame someday, won’t matter.

After Fridays game, Lou Piniella said he would make another switch to the batting order. Kosuke Fukudome will try batting in the number 1 slot Saturday. This switch will move everyone down one spot. Ryan Theriot will bat 2nd, Alfonso Soriano 3rd, Derek Lee 4th, and Aramis Rameriz will bat 5th, as reported by ChicagoSports.com.

The move from the 5th to 1st slot in the batting order is the fourth change for Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome will now have batted 3rd, 2nd, 5th, and first. ‘Fooky,’ as Piniella calls Fukudome, did not like what he saw from Kosuke batting behind Rameriz. The fact that Fukudome has an on base percentage of .357, despite the .205 batting average, means he’s still seeing the ball well.

The one this Lou Piniella does not like about this though means that Felix Pie and Kosuke, the Cubs only two lefties, will be batting in the 8th spot and 1st. Piniella does want to find the most comfortable spot in the batting order though before the season starts.

“I’m not all that pleased with the fifth spot,” he said. “We want to make it as comfortable as we can for Fukudome also.”

In the attempt to getting the 48 million dollar man charged up, Piniella will once again switch Kosuke Fukudome’s spot in the batting order.

Kosuke Fukudome had the day off Friday. The Chicago Cubs fell to the Colorado Rockies 7-3. Bring the Cubs spring training record to 10-14.