It’s now Seiya Suzuki’s fourth season in Major League Baseball — the fourth year of a five-year, $85 million deal he reached with the Chicago Cubs — and so far, Suzuki appears to have finally developed into the star that the Cubs hoped he would be.
Through 49 games this season, Suzuki has hit 14 homers and driven in 49 runs, putting him on pace to have his best season in the Major Leagues. But last week may have been the best week of the Arakawa City, Tokyo-native’s career. In six games, the 31-year-old went 12-for-25 with four doubles and three homers, drawing four walks and driving in 10 runs, numbers that earned him World Baseball Network’s International MLB Player of the Week honors.
Prior to his signing with the Cubs, Suzuki played nine seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, where he was a five-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner and a six-time Best Nine honoree. With the Carp, he batted .309/.402/.541 in 902 games, with 182 homers and 562 RBIs.
He was viewed as a five-tool player coming out of Japan, but it can be difficult to put the correct value on players coming out of NPB, because while baseball may be baseball, things are different in Japan. The ball is a tad smaller and softer, the pitchers pitch to contact, there’s an emphasis on small-ball and team-centered tactics. Sometimes, success in Japan does not beget success in the U.S., and vice versa — just ask Ty Woods or Tuffy Rhodes.
But now, Suzuki appears to have found a better understanding of the MLB style of play. With the Cubs atop the National League Central with a record of 32-21, it’s clear that Suzuki, who has batted third in the order and flipped between serving as designated hitter and playing the outfield, has blossomed this spring into a star.
The Cubs host the Colorado Rockies for a three-game set Monday to Wednesday this week, and host their division rival, the Cincinnati Reds, Friday through Sunday. None of the Cubs’ games this week are nationally televised, but every MLB game is streamed live via MLB.tv.
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