Shintaro Fujinami

[vab]

I still don't understand how Elias got this guy for a mid-level (at best) pitching prospect. His stuff is electric and, while I wouldn't move him back to starting this year, moving him back if they can re-sign him should definitely be considered. 

[Fan4Life]

1 minute ago, vab said:

I still don't understand how Elias got this guy for a mid-level (at best) pitching prospect. His stuff is electric and, while I wouldn't move him back to starting this year, moving him back if they can re-sign him should definitely be considered. 

If we are unable to add a SP by the deadline.. should he be an option? 

[Aglets]

4 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

If we are unable to add a SP by the deadline.. should he be an option? 

Absolutely not.  No.  He was acquired to perform in the role where he currently is.

[banks703]

On 7/29/2023 at 7:10 PM, LA2 said:

I think Fujinami is going to turn out to have been a steal.

We  have to make a decision soon as to whether Baker and Cionel are going to be dependable. Worried about whether Cano can be fixed and whether it's just a matter of pitching him less. I think we're committed to Baumann, Irvin, and Coulombe.

Where will this year's Joe Saunders come from?

My friend who is a Giants fan (who lives in Kentucky but got to see his first O's game this year last night on ESPN) text me during Fuji's second inning asking "where the f#$% did this guy come from?" and I'm just like "yeah man, Fuji is going to turn out to be a sleeper acquisition for the O's". 

His stuff looks REALLY good. They mentioned on the broadcast last night that the O's emphasis with him (and all of their guys) is to throw their two best pitches - though I take this with a grain of salt as we've seen some guys use their cutters or other secondary pitches that we as armchair coaches/GMs can identify as being not so great. I read somewhere that Fuji supposedly has NINE pitches that he has used. His pitch arsenal is very Felix-like. With more time with him, I wonder how much more the O's could squeeze from him. 

[Number5]

18 minutes ago, vab said:

I still don't understand how Elias got this guy for a mid-level (at best) pitching prospect. His stuff is electric and, while I wouldn't move him back to starting this year, moving him back if they can re-sign him should definitely be considered. 

Because he's a rental.

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Because he's a rental.

Sure but he looks like a dominant type arm.   Teams are paying more than Easton Lucas for someone who can be counted on in innings 7-9.   He looks to be such an arm.

[DrungoHazewood]

23 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

If we are unable to add a SP by the deadline.. should he be an option? 

Going back to his time in Japan he's started seven games since 2018. In those seven games he's 0-6 with an ERA over 14.00.  He started 13 games for Hanshin in 2018, had an ERA over 5.00.

It appears he's uniquely unsuited to starting.

[Just Regular]

I think like Tony was saying about Baumann, Fujinami is also someone who for this division race and tournament can do the Sammy Stewart thing.

In a winner take all game against NYY, Tampa basically used even Tyler Glasnow in a Sammy Stewart role as 25% of defeating peak Gerrit Cole.

[DrungoHazewood]

12 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Because he's a rental.

A rental with an 8.59 ERA.

[Number5]

7 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Sure but he looks like a dominant type arm.   Teams are paying more than Easton Lucas for someone who can be counted on in innings 7-9.   He looks to be such an arm.

I agree that it looks like Elias and his team did a good job here.  But the question was why was the price so low and the primary reason is the fact that he's a rental.  His numbers look terrible at first glance and our people did their homework to see his value in relief.

[vab]

14 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Because he's a rental.

Well if teams are giving away arms like this because they're rentals let's load-up. 

[DrungoHazewood]

Just now, Just Regular said:

I think like Tony was saying about Baumann, Fujinami is also someone who for this division race and tournament can do the Sammy Stewart thing.

In a winner take all game against NYY, Tampa basically used even Tyler Glasnow in a Sammy Stewart role as 25% of defeating peak Gerrit Cole.

Just remember "the Sammy Stewart thing" was coming in when the starter was knocked out in the third and go the rest of the game, and that's not a thing any more. Unless we have a very bizarre set of circumstances there's approximately a 0% chance Fujinami pitches 5-6 innings of relief in a game.

[banks703]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

A rental with an 8.59 ERA.

What's his ERA as a reliever?

 

 

[DrungoHazewood]

5 minutes ago, banks703 said:

What's his ERA as a reliever?

 

 

With the A's it was 5.40, which is not good. That's essentially replacement-level for a reliever.

[Moose Milligan]

I will say that his stuff looks pretty good, the velocity is there but the fastball looks relatively straight.  I don't see a lot of movement and I'm wondering if Statcast or whatever will reflect that.

That said, I like what I have seen so far.  It is encouraging.  If he continues to be a good piece out of the bullpen, I hope we re-sign him in the offseason.