Your Page!
Who is Seiya Suzuki? How former Hiroshima star fits in with Cubs roster
Your Page!
The Chicago Cubs landed the biggest player in the international market on Wednesday, reportedly signing Hiroshima Carp outfielder Seiya Suzuki to a five-year contract worth $85 million.
Your Page!
Suzuki, 27, has been playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league since he was 18 years old, and he's been producing consistently since he was 22. USA fans might recognize Suzuki
Your Page!
from the gold medal-game last August, in which the utility player had two hits in three at-bats with a walk.Where will Suzuki play?Suzuki is a utility player, capable of playing in the
Your Page!
outfield, at third base, and at shortstop He has played the past two seasons in right field and will probably take over for Jason Heyward at the position in Chicago Where Suzuki truly shines
Your Page!
however, is at the plate. He finished his NPB career with a .309/.402/.501 slash -- .316/.428/.596 in the past four seasons -- and he displayed increasing power over time. Suzuki hit a
Your Page!
career-high 38 home runs last season, and he's hit 25-plus in every year since 2017.How will Suzuki's game translate to MLB?This is difficult to pin down, as NPB competition -- while second
Your Page!
best in the world -- isn't perfectly analogous to MLB competition. Recent NPB pickups Yoshi Tsutsugo and Shogo Akiyama struggled in their first seasons. Suzuki, however, has some good signs.
Your Page!
For starters, he's a very balanced bat who doesn't look like hes exerting a ton of energy to get the power he gets. Suzuki's swing is balanced and for a player who hit 38 home runs last year
Your Page!
he struck out just 17 percent of the time. In Tsutsugo's final year in Yokohama, he had a strikeout rate of 25 percent Akiyama was more in Suzukis range at 16 percent but he hit just 20 home
Your Page!
runs in his final year with Seibu.We can expect a slight dip in Suzuki's production out of the gate, as MLB pitching tends to bring players down a bracket. But Suzuki's feel for the strike