Shohei Ohtani: A Story Cubs Fans Are All Too Familiar With?

March 31st, 2008 is an Opening Day no Chicago Cubs fan will forget. A division rivalry, an unforgettable 9th inning, and an ending like so many others, before 2015 completely changed perspective for Cubs’ fans. While Chicago has tasted championship glory since 2008, and 10 years later are looking for their favorite team to take the World Series for the second time in two years, that cold ‘Spring Day’ comes to mind as we take in the first few weeks of the 2018 season. Between the ‘snow-outs,’ already electrifying highlights, and homerun derby across the league, one player has taken the country by storm, and the question becomes, can it continue? [embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BhWr-sDAU-Z/?taken-by=kris_bryant17[/embed] After a disappointing Spring Training, he has proven once again why a player can’t be judged just by his play internationally or his time in Arizona, where he let up a towering home run on the 5th pitch he threw in the Cactus League. The second the pitches and at-bats really counted in 2018, a star was born. His name: Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. [embed]

A star in Japan for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, the power-hitting pitcher has already hit three home-runs in his first 4 games, is batting .389, and flirted with a Perfect Game Sunday, in his home pitching debut against the Oakland A’s. Ohtani has retired 27 batters over his first two starts. [embed]

What Ohtani has done is truly incredible, as comparisons to the Japanese Star place him with the likes of Babe Ruth, should this productivity continue. Baseball has not seen a player of his caliber on the mound and in the batters box in 83 years, with only Hall of Famer Bob Gibson making his case in the 1960’s. [embed]

But Ohtani’s early performance still creates as many questions as it does excitement.

Which is why it takes a Cubs fan to dissect the phenom’s game and begs the question of, will his historic pace continue? These questions bring us back to that 2008 Opening Day, where the Cubs had a ‘phenom’ of their own, making his MLB Debut. It was the bottom of the 9th inning, as the Brewers sent in their closer Eric Gagne to wrap up the victory for the Brew Crew, trying to finish off the Cubs on the first day of what would be an exciting playoff season on the North Side. Enter Kosuke Fukudome. The 31-year-old rookie stepped up to the plate and launched a home run into right-center field to tie the game 3-3. Wrigley Field was up for grabs, as fans were already lining up to buy his jersey and Fukudome headbands. While the Cubs ended up losing in extra innings, that day too, a star was born. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV3HHc8Hxmw[/embed] Fukudome took the league by storm in his first two months, with his ability to get on base while also quickly becoming a fan-favorite. His first half of the 2008 season saw him produce a .279 batting avg, a .383 OBP, a .408 slugging pct to go along with his 7 home runs, 55 walks and 59 runs scored. These stats made him an All-Star in 2008. But as many Cubs fans remember, once the calendar turned to the 2nd half of the season, his fall from grace was a rapid decline. The league figured out the flaws of the ‘older’ rookie, Fukudome failed to adjust and his second half saw a decrease in every category. His batting average was down to .217, his OBP down to .314, slugging pct down to .326 and he only added 3 more home runs to his total. The hysteria quickly turned to real concern, as Fukudome was suddenly losing playing time to Reed Johnson, Mark DeRosa, and the ‘little Babe’ Mike Fontenot. Questions began to surround his productivity heading into 2009 and by 2011, Fukudome was traded to the Cleveland Indians. [embed]

Taking Fukudome’s rise and fall as a case study begs the question of if Shohei Ohtani will suffer the same fate? Baseball is full of international superstars, but Fukudome and Ohtani both come from playing experience, where their first taste of baseball in the U.S is at the highest level. Their ‘newness’ to the league can allow them to shock opposing players with outstanding play to start, but it’s their adjustments that are key to sustaining their success. Take a look at a player like Javier Baez. He is a magician in the field, has an electric bat but still has a tremendous amount of growth to do to become the player he wants to be. However, he had 3 full years in the minor leagues, followed by call-ups to the pros and send downs to the minors between 2014 and 2016, allowing him to learn from the best, but then apply it back to his game back in the minor leagues, where he could still learn and make mistakes. [embed]

While not international, the Puerto-Rican star was given the opportunity to succeed from the start and build from the ground up. Players like Ohtani and Fukudome, don’t have that luxury. Their international stardom sends them right to the top in the MLB, with little room for error, even if they, in fact, need the training back in the minors. While Ohtani is only 23, compared to Fukudome’s debut at 31, it is imperative that the Angels give their star all the necessary tools to succeed, even if that means sending him back to the minors to hone his craft. Even Anthony Rizzo jumped between Triple-A and the MLB with San Diego, amidst incredible struggles at the plate, before finally working his way to an All-Star with the Cubs. While the excitement around Ohtani and Fukudome was and is great for the game, it forces these players to work backward, starting on top, only to hope they do not fall to the bottom. LA cannot afford to jeopardize Ohtani’s development, even if that means making difficult decisions during his tenure with the team.

Growth is not linear and while we are dazzled by Ohtani’s first two weeks in the big leagues, he can easily suffer the same fate as so many before him have.

He can either be a household name alongside Mike Trout in LA, or simply a blip on the radar, with two weeks of stardom followed by 10 years of mediocrity. [embed]

The Angels have the obligation to not get wrapped up in the excitement surrounding Ohtani. They can enjoy it while it lasts, but they must take every step possible to ensure it never goes away. The Cubs got wrapped up in the excitement of Fukudome, while the team and player continued to unravel right before their eyes without the ability or interest to re-assess and develop. As a Cubs fan can tell you, Kosuke Fukudome holds the same place in Cubs history as Bryan LaHair, a feel-good story, an All-Star, and a player who is now just a speck in Cubs history, after the team has now secured a World Series Championship, with completely different players that Cubs fans will remember for generations. [embed]

The Cubs and Fukudome failed to adjust after instant stardom. Let’s hope the Angels are able to make sure Ohtani’s historic performance continues and is not just lightning in a bottle.