MESA, Ariz. Safe to say, Seiya Suzuki has made a good first impre sion in the Cubs clubhouse.Oh, hes funny, first baseman Frank Schwindel told The Sporting News. Even just . I was cracking up about that.I can tell that hes got a sense of humor, Clint Frazier said.MORE: Second baseman Nick Madrigal: Hes been awesome. Super nice guy. Seems like hes one of the guys already. He walked in and loves to joke around, it easy to be around. Yeah, its going to be awesome playing with him.And, of course there was this:The baseball adjustment has been a bit rockier for Suzuki, a right-handed hitter Patrick Willis Jersey who was one of the best hitters the best in Japan for the past six seasons for the Hiroshima Carp.His early at-bats for the Cubs in spring training have mostly been rough five strikeouts, one walk and one hit-by-pitch in 11 plate appearances over his first four games but its easy to chalk that up to nerves and just trying to find his timing at the plate. His first hit was a doozy, a home run on Wednesday.But nobodys really worried about spring training stats. His numbers in Japan speak for themselves (more on those in a moment). Instead, just listen to his fellow Cubs talk about what theyve seen in live Ronnie Lott Jersey BP.He hit just about every pitch I saw out of the park, Schwindel said.Madrigal, again: He just has such an easy swing. It seems so controlled but the ball just explodes off his Laken Tomlinson Jersey bat. You dont see that too much with guys. He has a real good approach up there, knows what hes doing. Hes looking good so far.Power to all fields, Ro s said. Bat-to-ball skills are real. Doesnt chase outside the zone too much, and when he does get fooled hes still able to foul off really tough pitches. RIVERA: Frazier, again: The power stands out, but his batting practice routine stands out. You can tell hes not just going up there and trying to hit home runs. The first couple swings, hes always hitting to right field on the ground. Hes got a plan, so its not just power only.Frazier paused, then smiled.Hes a good hitter and the power comes with, he said. Those are the scary ones.Here's that first home run.The Cubs paid a posting fee a little bit north of $14 million, then signed him to a five-year, $85 million contract a few days after the lockout ended.Suzuki made his debut with the Hiroshima Carp at 18 years old, and by 21 he was a legitimate star in Japan. In his worst season 2020, at Age 25 he batted .300 with a Dante Pettis Jersey .953 OPS, 25 homers and 75 RBIs in 118 games. He followed that with a spectacular 2021 campaign, blasting 38 homers in 134 games, to go with a .317 average, .433 on-base percentage and 1.069 OPS.Over at FanGraphs, Suzukis ZIPS projections put him in the 21-23 homer range for the next several seasons. Those feel like conservative projections.MORE: With his power from the right side, Cubs fans are just excited to see him at Wrigley soon. NFL San Francisco 49ers Jersey His teammates are, too. Especially when the winds blowing the right way, Schwindel said. Hell hit a couple acro s the street. Itll be fun to watch.The Cubs certainly hope and expect that will be the case.
