明治神宮野球場
In spring camp, Fukuda was once again invited to train with the first team but injured his calf in practice where he was then demoted to the farm team to recover. He was the Western League monthly MVP in June and in July he was brought up to the first team. On 7 July 2009, Fukuda made his debut against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows pinch hitting for Kenichi Nakata at Meiji Jingu Stadium and became the 49th player in NPB history to hit a home-run in his first at-bat. He made his first field appearance as a substitute for an injured Tony Blanco at first base on 31 July however poor hitting as a pinch-hitter thereafter led to his demotion to the farm in August.