Opening Day for the Chicago Cubs in 2022 came with some flare thanks to Seiya Suzuki.
The former Nippon star from Japan came to the team when he signed a five-year deal on March 18, 2022.
His signing was the biggest move by the Cubs that season, and he didn’t disappoint to start the season.
In his first month with the team, he was named the NL Player of the Week and NL Rookie of the Month.
His nine-game hitting streak to start his MLB career also had everyone raving about him.
Longest hitting streak to begin MLB career, Cubs since at least 1901:
2022 Seiya Suzuki: 9 games**
1943 Andy Pafko: 9 games** active streak extended today
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 19, 2022
However, the honeymoon was short, as Suzuki went on a slump and also had an injury to his left ring finger later in the season.
While he had issues, he still finished his 2022 season with some solid numbers.
In 111 games, he had 104 hits, 22 doubles, 14 home runs, and two triples.
His .262 batting average and .769 OPS were also solid as well.
However, it doesn’t live up to his numbers from his days as a player in Japan.
His Nippon Professional Baseball career saw him batting a .315 average, much higher than his 2022 numbers in the MLB.
While the numbers are lower, it signals how he’s making the change from the NPB to MLB.
The silver lining here is how he can make improvements.
While his start to 2022 was hot, he had moments of cooling down.
But history shows fans he’s capable of having hitting streaks and showing dominance at the plate.
With his 2022 performance being solid overall, he can easily make a second-year improvement in 2023.
