Mr. Stats’ Notes: Need a reason to watch Cubs-Phillies? It’s Seiya Suzuki

On Sunday, in a game which can be seen on Peacock at 12:05 pm, the Chicago Cubs play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Cubs don’t have a lot going for them this season, but one thing they got right was purchasing rookie right fielder Seiya Suzuki.

Suzuki led Nippon Professional Baseball in on-base percentage and slugging percentage last season and is a two-time Central League batting champion. As one of the hottest names in free agency this offseason, Suzuki signed a 5-year, $85M deal with the Cubs (plus an additional $14.6 million dollar posting fee).

The Chicago Cubs’ payroll has gone down in each of the last four seasons, so the March 17 signing of Suzuki may have been a bit of a surprise.  But this organization has had quite a number of Japanese position players. Think of Kosuke Fukodome, Munenori Kawasaki, and So Taguchi.

I still marvel at how difficult a transition it must be for a player to make the jump from Japan over to America, with the language and cultural barriers. What’s it like to be the only player in the clubhouse that speaks the same language as you do? Even with a translator, it must be so frustrating and lonely.

Seiya struggled — in fact from April 28 to May 24, he batted .169/.235/.286. And on May 26, he went on the IL after injuring his left ring finger on a slide.

Since returning from the Injured List, Suzuki in his last 13 games before the All-Star Break, was batting .356/.396/.511 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Not only that, Sunday will be Suzuki’s 20th day game of the season. In day games, he is batting .356/.458/.695.

He hasn’t been great, he hasn’t drawn a lot of national attention, and yet his OBP in the first half is .355.

Ichiro Suzuki — the great Ichiro — had a lifetime OBP of .355.

In