Tokyo outfielder Kazuki Fukuchi has been on a bit of a tear as of late.
After several weeks of doldrums at the plate, Fukuchi seems to have snapped out of it and is providing lots of extra bases at the top of Tokyo’s order.
The switch-hitter has collected three hits in each of the last three games. That means that he has hit safely nine times in his last 15 at-bats.
The recent uptick in production has been a godsend for the team because he is very fleet of foot and often steals second base. In fact, Fukuchi leads the Central League with 29 steals so far this season. With his OBP continuing to creep into the mid 300′s, hopefully the guys following him in the order will figure out how to 
bring him home more often. He’s currently in second place on the the team in terms of runs scored. He has crossed home plate 53 times while Aoki has made it around 63.
The one knock on Fukuchi at this point is that he’s one of our weakest hitters when runners are in scoring position. He’s hitting just .195 in those situations whereas his batting average is currently sitting at a very respectable .283.
Otherwise, Tokyo is incredibly relieved to have the old Fukuchi back. Hopefully he’s here to stay, and the rest of the lineup with find some stability once Miyamoto and D’Antona come back from injury.
And now that I’ve written this post about his streak, rest assured that he’ll go hitless today in the series finale against Yomiuri.
About Christopher Pellegrini
