Orioles' Shintaro Fujinami: Awarded win over Red Sox
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Fujinami (7-8) struck out one without putting a runner on base over 1.2 innings to earn the win Saturday over the Red Sox.
Fujinami inherited a pair of runners in the fifth inning and saw them pull off a double steal to both get into scoring position, but he nullified the threat. He then pitched a tidy sixth inning and was ultimately awarded the win in a 13-12 Baltimore victory. With 4.2 scoreless innings and six strikeouts over four outings in September, it appears the Orioles are starting to get the best out of Fujinami. He still has a 7.15 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 79:39 K:BB through 73 innings this year, but he's been much more effective as a reliever with Baltimore than he was in any role with Oakland to begin the campaign.
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Orioles' Shintaro Fujinami: Picks up second save
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Fujinami struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 5-4 extra-inning win over the Angels.
Fujinami has maintained scoreless outings in 13 of his 20 appearances with the Orioles, though they haven't all been as crisp as Tuesday's nine-pitch inning. The save was his second of the year, and he's added a hold in his time with Baltimore to get to four holds on the year. The right-hander is at a 7.42 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 77:39 K:BB through 70.1 innings overall, but he's been noticeably better with the Orioles, pitching to a 4.71 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over 21 innings since he was dealt from the Athletics.
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Orioles' Shintaro Fujinami: Collects first save
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Fujinami struck out one without putting a runner on base in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Sunday's 5-3 extra-inning win over the Mariners.
Fujinami uncorked a wild pitch in the outing, but it was his lone mistake. The right-hander has showed some talent since he was traded from Oakland, but he's also allowed seven runs (six earned) with a 12:8 K:BB over 10.1 innings across his 10 appearances in that span. Overall, he's posted a 7.99 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 63:38 K:BB with a save, four holds and a 5-8 record over 59.2 innings across 44 outings (seven starts) this year. Until he can display better command, Fujinami is likely to see only sporadic late-inning assignments in a bullpen as strong as Baltimore's.
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Orioles' Shintaro Fujinami: Activated by Baltimore
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Fujinami was activated by the Orioles on Friday.
Fujinami will officially join Baltimore's bullpen after being acquired via trade from the Athletics on Wednesday. The right-hander has produced an impressive 1.64 ERA and 0.64 WHIP with 12 strikeouts over 11 innings in his last nine appearances dating back to June 28.
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Orioles' Shintaro Fujinami: Dealt to Baltimore
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The Athletics traded Fujinami to the Orioles on Wednesday in exchange for Easton Lucas, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Fujinami's stat line remains significantly inflated from his disastrous run as a starter this season. However, he boasts a 2.77 ERA and 0.85 WHIP alongside a 13:0 K:BB across 13 innings since June 20. Fujinami will most likely serve in middle relief as part of the Orioles bullpen.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Expected to be dealt
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Fujinami is expected to be traded, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Fujinami's destination is not yet known. The 29-year-old was a disaster in the Athletics' rotation earlier this season but has found a home in the bullpen, particularly of late with a 1.64 ERA and 12:0 K:BB over his last 11 innings. Fujinami seems likely to fill a middle-relief role wherever he lands.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Stays hot with fifth win
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Fujinami (5-7) got the extra-inning win over the Tigers on Tuesday, striking out the side in a perfect ninth frame.
Fujinami threw arguably his sharpest inning of the season, firing nine of his 12 pitches for strikes while recording swinging punchouts of Jake Rogers, Zach McKinstry and Miguel Cabrera. The right-hander now has four consecutive scoreless appearances -- including three straight hitless efforts -- and hasn't walked a batter across the seven innings spanning his last six outings, his longest stretch by far without issuing a free pass. With a recent body of work that includes a 3-1 record, 2.19 ERA and 10.2 K/9 across his last 11 appearances, Fujinami appears to be increasingly earning the trust of manager Mark Kotsay in higher-leverage scenarios.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Working as opener again
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Fujinami will serve as the opener for the Athletics on Saturday against the Blue Jays, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Fujinami worked as the opener June 13 and will get another chance in the role Saturday. He's likely to cover only an inning before Hogan Harris takes over to pitch the bulk of the remaining frames. After a disastrous start to the season, Fujinami has allowed only one earned run across his last 6.2 innings, though that has come with a 7:6 K:BB.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Operating as opener
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Fujinami will operate as an opener for the Athletics on Tuesday versus the Rays, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Fujinami will get the ball first Tuesday ahead of Hogan Harris, who's expected to be the primary pitcher for Oakland's second contest of its series with Tampa Bay. Fujinami has rattled off three straight scoreless appearances out of the bullpen, allowing one run while walking five batters and striking two over three innings. He'll look to keep up his recent success as the Athletics attempt to extend their six-game win streak.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Grabs third win Saturday
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Fujinami (3-6) got the extra-inning win against the Brewers on Saturday, allowing a walk and recording a strikeout during a scoreless ninth inning.
The frequently embattled right-hander got through his one frame on an efficient 15 pitches, nine of which found the strike zone. Outings like Saturday's are quietly becoming more of the norm for Fujinami, who may finally be finding his stride against MLB hitters following a successful career in Japan. The towering 29-year-old has now allowed one or no earned runs in five of the last six appearances, a six-inning span during which his 4.50 ERA represents a monumental improvement over the 12.69 figure he went into that stretch with. He's also notably been called upon in higher-leverage scenarios in each of his last two outings and responded by allowing one unearned run on a hit and three walks over 2.2 scoreless frames.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Takes loss as opener
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Fujinami (2-6) took the loss as the opener against the Marlins on Friday, allowing two earned runs on two hits over one inning. He struck out one.
The oft-embattled right-hander was unable to escape his one frame unscathed, qualifying for the loss after surrendering a two-run home run to Jesus Sanchez that would have been enough for the Marlins against the punchless Athletics. On the bright side, Fujinami did refrain from issuing a walk for his fourth straight appearance, but the long ball was the second he's allowed in his last 2.1 innings. The 29-year-old figures to continue being deployed in low-leverage scenarios for the foreseeable future.
Fujinami fired 2.1 scoreless, hitless relief innings during which he allowed a walk and recorded two strikeouts in Wednesday's loss to the Yankees.
The nearly perfect multi-inning outing qualifies as one of Fujinami's most encouraging stints on the mound during his brief time in an Athletics uniform. The offseason acquisition has struggled considerably with control, yet he recorded his seven outs on an economical 35 pitches while facing a dangerous lineup Wednesday. Fujinami's 12.52 ERA and 2.04 WHIP are stark reminders of how far he has to go in completely righting the ship, but he should continue to receive regular opportunities to do so in low-leverage situations.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Struggles in relief Friday
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Fujinami allowed two earned runs on two hits, three walks and a wild pitch across one inning of relief in Friday's loss to the Reds. He struck out one.
Following a solid two-inning relief debut Wednesday against the Angels, Fujinami turned in an outing reminiscent of the ones that earned him a demotion from the starting rotation. The Japanese rookie got just 18 of his 36 pitches into the strike zone during his time on the mound and allowed runs on a pair of singles and a wild pitch. Fujinami projects to continue seeing low-leverage opportunities until he's able to put together a sustained stretch of efficient pitching.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Shifting to relief role
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Fujinami will be used out of the bullpen until further notice, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Fujinami has struggled as a starter through the first few weeks of the 2023 campaign, accruing a 14.40 ERA and 2.07 WHIP with a 12:12 K:BB across 15 frames. "We're going to put him in the pen and try to use him in a leverage role where we could watch him throw strikes and get his fastball command back," said manager Mark Kotsay, per Gallegos. "Not to say he can't return into the rotation, but in the short term, we're going to assess him in that direction."
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Takes loss despite quality start
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Fujinami (0-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks over six-plus innings during a 3-2 loss to the Mets. He struck out five.
Aside from a solo shot from Pete Alonso in the fourth inning, Fujinami was sharp through six innings. However, he surrendered a leadoff home run to Mark Canha in the seventh and was pulled after walking the next batter. That baserunner ended up coming around to score on a go-ahead, RBI double by Brandon Nimmo, so three runs were charged to Fujinami. Despite picking up a third straight loss, Fujinami took a major step in the right direction Saturday and will look to build on his success during his next start, which is tentatively scheduled next weekend's three-game set at Texas.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Set to start every Saturday
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Fujinami will start once a week on Saturday's to open the season, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Previous reports indicated that Fujinami would start every six days, meaning they could use a five-man rotation in weeks when they have an off day. The decision to lock Fujinami into a once-a-week role to ease his transition from Japan means the Athletics may be forced to turn to six starters on a regular basis, though the team has yet to clarify its full plans. Assuming he does indeed exclusively pitch on Saturday's, Fujinami's first three outings will be home against the Angels, away against the Rays and home against the Mets.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Will start every sixth day
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Fujinami will start every sixth day this season for the Athletics, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
That's the schedule Fujinami is used to from his time in Japan and the A's want to keep it that way, at least for now. Some early-season off days will allow the club to go with five starters for a while, but eventually it will have to use a six-man rotation and/or a spot starter in order to incorporate the plan for Fujinami.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Lands in Oakland
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Fujinami agreed Wednesday with the Athletics on a one-year contract, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
According to Passan, the 28-year-old right-hander is expected to slot into the Oakland rotation while he makes the jump to MLB after spending the past 10 seasons in his native Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers. Fujinami stands at imposing 6-foot-6 and sports an upper-90s fastball that can touch the triple digits, but he didn't dominate against NPB competition to the extent his skill set might suggest. While moving between the rotation and bullpen in 2022 for Hanshin, he turned in a 3.38 ERA and struck out 23.6 percent of the batters he faced. He was able to trim his walk rate to a palatable 7.5 percent after often struggling with his control in his prior seasons with Japan, but the move to MLB could make it difficult to maintain that improvement while he faces higher-caliber hitters.
