CHICAGO — In the outfield, Sam Fuld is five feet, 10 inches of reckless abandon.
At the crack of the bat, instinct slingshots him toward the ball, and if a wall is in the way, then so be it.
"It happens so quickly, there's not a lot of time to think about it," said Fuld, who in a short time in the Major Leagues has made a name for himself with some highlight-reel catches.
Fuld's all-out defensive style has led to some intimate face time with Wrigley Field's ivy-covered brick and Dodger Stadium's bullpen gate. Yet it also stands in stark contrast to the rookie's approach at the plate, where he exercises far more restraint.
Fuld does not have the frame needed to generate much power, so he uses a compact swing and deploys it with discretion. During a September callup in 2007 and a couple of stints with Chicago this season, Fuld has displayed a discerning eye at the plate and a willingness to work the count.
"Obviously we all know how great of a defensive player he is, and he's gotten a lot better offensively," said hitting coach Von Joshua, who also worked with Fuld in the Minor Leagues. "He's gotten stronger. He's always been a very patient hitter at the plate and it's really paid off for him at the Major League level."
Fuld went hitless in six at-bats two years ago, and after a disappointing 2008 during which he struggled through an injured hand in the Minors, he spent the winter playing in Venezuela. He said the 300 or so at-bats he got and the intense environment he experienced there helped prepare him for this season.
A 1-for-15 stretch at the plate has dropped Fuld's average to .259, but he still sports a .386 on-base percentage heading into Monday's game against the Astros.
"I think [patience] has come fairly naturally to me, but I do make a conscious effort at times to see some pitches," Fuld said. "It's a tough balance because you want to be aggressive, and I think baseball is a game where you thrive off aggressiveness for the most part. But it can be beneficial to work some counts at times, and I know that's part of my game."
While it's hard to draw any firm conclusions from the 70 plate appearances he has compiled this season, Fuld has displayed some distinct tendencies.
He has seen more than four pitches per plate appearance and swung at less than 10 percent of offerings out of the strike zone, both numbers much better than the Major League average. Fuld also has made contact on 92 percent of his swings, while Luis Castillo leads all qualified National League players with a 93-percent mark.
Fuld's pinch-hit appearance Thursday against the Nationals captured the essence of his approach. The Cubs trailed, 5-4, when Fuld led off the ninth against hard-throwing closer Mike MacDougal.
"That was certainly a classic example of a time where your goal is to get on base however you can," Fuld said. "You get runners on base, you want to be able to drive them in, but my role for the most part is getting on, whether it's drawing a walk or getting hit or getting a base hit."
Fuld fell behind 1-2, took two balls, fouled off a pitch, then took ball four. Although the Cubs didn't score, Fuld had done his job.
"A lot of guys will go up there, and they get a little anxious and start swinging at the first thing the pitcher throws," Joshua said. "But he has that uncanny knack for having a keen eye."
Even though he graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics and has interned at Stats Inc., Fuld said his approach is not the byproduct of statistical analysis.
"I think about it off the field, and I enjoy that aspect of the game, but when I'm playing I try to block it off as much as possible," Fuld said.
Excessive thinking can cloud instinct, and instinct is what drives Fuld's game. It did so on Aug. 22 at Dodger Stadium, when he slid into the bullpen gate in left field to catch Brad Ausmus' deep fly ball.
Fuld used his head then, but only to stop his momentum.