Shintaro Fujinami

[OriolesMagic83]

The O's should offer him a split contract w/ an opt out date.  See if the O's pitching gurus can fix him.  That would be a win for Fuji and the O's.

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

The O's should offer him a split contract w/ an opt out date.  See if the O's pitching gurus can fix him.  That would be a win for Fuji and the O's.

It’s not a win for Fuji if another team offers him a guaranteed ML contract with more guaranteed money which is questionable but possible.

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

All I can say is that it will be interesting to see where he winds up, if he gets a ML contract, and how much he gets.   

Yes it will. I wonder if he'll choose comfort or quality. If it's comfort, he'll go home I'd wager.

To me, if I had a golden arm like that guy does, I'd find the smartest pitching organization in the world and take whatever deal they offer me. He could be the best closer in baseball in a year if things suddenly clicked. Hell, he was a starter. Imagine if he figured out command/control enough to be a starter?

I'm not saying it's likely. I'm saying that his arm raises his odds above most other guys.

[RZNJ]

Just now, LookinUp said:

Yes it will. I wonder if he'll choose comfort or quality. If it's comfort, he'll go home I'd wager.

To me, if I had a golden arm like that guy does, I'd find the smartest pitching organization in the world and take whatever deal they offer me. He could be the best closer in baseball in a year if things suddenly clicked. Hell, he was a starter. Imagine if he figured out command/control enough to be a starter?

I'm not saying it's likely. I'm saying that his arm raises his odds above most other guys.

I think the pitching coaches in Japan are pretty smart.  If Fuji hasn’t figured it out by now I don’t like his chances.  When he’s on he looks almost unhittable but he’s not on very consistently.   

[LookinUp]

22 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I think the pitching coaches in Japan are pretty smart.  If Fuji hasn’t figured it out by now I don’t like his chances.  When he’s on he looks almost unhittable but he’s not on very consistently.   

If there's one age old truism among coaches it's that there's always someone who thinks they can "fix" a talented player. He'll have options. It's just a matter if he chooses the right one and if they're lucky enough to make it work.

[Orioles0615]

42 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Yes it will. I wonder if he'll choose comfort or quality. If it's comfort, he'll go home I'd wager.

To me, if I had a golden arm like that guy does, I'd find the smartest pitching organization in the world and take whatever deal they offer me. He could be the best closer in baseball in a year if things suddenly clicked. Hell, he was a starter. Imagine if he figured out command/control enough to be a starter?

I'm not saying it's likely. I'm saying that his arm raises his odds above most other guys.

Tampa and LA do both have great weather

[interloper]

Who would you rather have, Baker or Fuji? 

I'm kinda on team Fuji if we're putting it that way. They're kind of similar. You feel ok about either guy if the bases are empty, but terrible if there are guys on base. 

[Moose Milligan]

19 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

If there's one age old truism among coaches it's that there's always someone who thinks they can "fix" a talented player.  

[LookinUp]

14 minutes ago, Orioles0615 said:

Tampa and LA do both have great weather

Cleveland could make a case. Maybe even Minnesota. Others? I'm not sure. It's certainly not just the O's state-side.

[sportsfan8703]

5 hours ago, RZNJ said:

I think the pitching coaches in Japan are pretty smart.  If Fuji hasn’t figured it out by now I don’t like his chances.  When he’s on he looks almost unhittable but he’s not on very consistently.   

It’s all command and mental. If we can get him to become a strictly FB/Splitter guy and have a full ST with him then that would be huge. Then let him build some confidence in the middle innings with no runners on for the early part of the season. 

It was also his first year in the USA and MLB. He just looked overwhelmed at times. Hopefully, he liked it here, and from our end he’s a high end arm, but we’ll just have to develop him more. 

[Number5]

44 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

It was also his first year in the USA and MLB. He just looked overwhelmed at times. Hopefully, he liked it here, and from our end he’s a high end arm, but we’ll just have to develop him more. 

I seem to recall reading that he had the same issues in Japan.

[Billy F-Face3]

7 hours ago, interloper said:

Who would you rather have, Baker or Fuji? 

I'm kinda on team Fuji if we're putting it that way. They're kind of similar. You feel ok about either guy if the bases are empty, but terrible if there are guys on base. 

Baker. He's had more consistent success over the courses of 2022 and 2023.

Shake and Bake!

[LA2]

1 hour ago, Number5 said:

I seem to recall reading that he had the same issues in Japan.

Yes, this is true, he did have the same issues the last few years in Japan. Important to remember.

[Jagwar]

8 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

low and away... low and away... low and away...

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Jagwar said:

low and away... low and away... low and away...

As if he were the first person to ever realize low and away is the hardest pitch to hit. 

A long time ago I read an article about Maddux, it was talking about what a cerebral guy he was. And there was this anecdote from Mazzone, he was talking about how Maddux was throwing more from the stretch in his bullpens and he couldn’t figure out why, so he asked Maddux about it.  Maddux simply explained that he felt as if he were going to have make more important pitches in games from the stretch so he needed to feel extra comfortable dealing from the stretch. 

Mazzone was flabbergasted. Had never dawned on him that a pitcher would think that way. 

What a dolt. I mean, he couldn’t think of that himself, and he was supposed to be some genius pitching coach?  And then instead of being embarrassed about NOT being able to think of that on his own, he freely admitted it to a writer?

I’m firmly convinced Mazzone was a bit of a fraud. Yeah, low and away was tough to hit, he could preach that all day long but he just so happened to have three guys that could put it there consistently.   Maddux was already a Cy winner when he joined the Braves, Smoltz was an All-Star in ‘89 and Glavine had a great ‘89 season before Mazzone showed up in time to take credit for everything.