"Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who earned an All-Star start based on his sizzling first two months in the majors before spiraling the rest of the season, made his first stop in the Cubs' clubhouse Thursday before Japan's World Baseball Classic team played an exhibition game at HoHoKam Park.

Fukudome said that for the first time in his professional career, he began the offseason immediately with a hitting program. He also said he plans to speak up more about his situation during Year 2 in America. As for being benched down the stretch and in the playoffs, the former Japanese star still is smarting.

''It didn't feel good at all,'' he said. ''But I understand what my condition was at the end of the season, so it was [justified]. I would like to start speaking up a little bit more to make sure my thoughts are being translated.''

Manager Lou Piniella, whose frustration with Fukudome was crystal clear during the playoffs, had a long chat with him Thursday, discussing his shift to center field -- his position with Team Japan.

''He looks good,'' Piniella said. ''I told him our plans are to look at him in the No. 2 hole in the lineup and out in center field against the right-handed pitching. We'll see how things go from there, but those are our initial plans.''

Starting in right field and batting mostly in the No. 2 spot, Fukudome hit .305 in April, .293 in May, .267 in June and progressively worse each month, bottoming out at .178 in September, when Piniella finally benched him.

Fukudome was a career .305 hitter in Japan, hitting 20 or more home runs four times. His rookie season with the Cubs, he hit .257 with 10 homers and 58 RBI, though he did have a .359 on-base percentage.

Piniella was asked if he ever had seen a player look so good the first two months, then nosedive the rest of the season.

''No, not such a variance from start to finish,'' Piniella said. ''But he probably learned a lot from last year. He's obviously a talented young man. He'll figure it out.''"