Just a little over 20 games into the season, Major League Baseball is just getting going. For fans around the world, things are about to get interesting. But for fans of Japanese players, there’s already been some early noise. The biggest splash thus far had been made by outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who signed a huge deal with the Chicago Cubs in the offseason after spending his entire career with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Professional League. The early dividends are paying off. Fukudome has quickly become a fan favorite — he’s the first Japanese player in the Cubs’ long, storied history — due to his bat and his arm. Through April 25, Fukudome is batting .338 with one homer, nine RBIs and 18 runs scored. In addition, he’s playing a pretty mean right field out there amongst all the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field. Chicago is currently in first place in the National League Central Division with a 15-7 record, and the hot start has fans of the championship-starved, snakebitten Cubbies thinking playoffs.

Just like when Daisuke Matsuzaka came overseas in a pricey deal with the Red Sox, I was skeptical when Fukudome and the Cubs reached terms on a deal. First of all, he’s 30 years old. So am I, but you won’t catch me running hard for more than 2-3 minutes and my reflexes have certainly slowed. Perhaps that famed Japan fountain of youth has Fukudome looking more like he’s 25. He’s certainly playing like it. Also, I don’t trust hitters from the JPL. That’s a bit elitist as an American and a lifelong baseball fan, but unless it’s a no-brainer like Ichiro or Hideki Matsui, the level of pitching and the length of the fences in Japan are inferior to those in the U.S. That’s simply fact. But hey, if this guy keeps it up, he won’t be the first Japanese player to prove me wrong.

Elsewhere in the league, old Dice-K is off to a solid start for a second straight season. After some shaky pitching last year in the playoffs (the Red Sox still won the title) Matsuzaka appears to have rounded back into form. He is a sparkling 4-0 with a 3.17 ERA and a team-high 28 strikeouts. On a grander scale, Matsuzaka has sparked Boston to a 15-9 start — good for first place in the always tough American League East Division. Ichiro is off to a lukewarm 2008 season, batting .260 with 18 runs scored and five stolen bases. History tells me he will hit an insane hot streak soon and his numbers will climb. Teammate Kenji Johjima is mired in a bit of a slump and is hitting .200, but his scrappy defensive play won me over when he came to the MLB and his hitting should also pick up. The honeymoon is long over for Tokyo native Tadahito Taguchi. Now with San Diego, he’s batting just .213 and has seen his playing time dwindle. Also seeing time with a new team is outfielder So Taguchi. The Phillies signed the Hyogo-ken native this offseason; he’s hitting a ho-hum .241 but has value as a reserve because of his glove and his speed on the bases.

We’ll check in again later to see how things are going for Japanese players overseas …

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