Shintaro Fujinami

[drjohnnyfever1]

Two four pitch walks is not a good performance, but none of the relief was especially sharp.

[Roll Tide]

16 minutes ago, drjohnnyfever1 said:

Two four pitch walks is not a good performance, but none of the relief was especially sharp.

Yeah it seems he’s either really good or really bad. Rarely is he in between. 
 

There is a problem with the offseason to work on his mechanics. Is he interested in staying? How much money will he want to return and will he come back on a short term deal? Is he going to prefer on being a starter again. He’s making $3+ million this season and he can probably get that in Japan, go home, and be a starter.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Roll Tide

[MarCakes21]

10 hours ago, RZNJ said:

I had the same feeling today.   The talent is there but two things.  1) He does seem to have confidence/composure issues and 2) The 101 fastball is there sometimes but today it was 97-98 and when it’s in that range it’s like he’s toast.   

Wonder if you can always have two guys up in the pen, and see if Fuji has it between the ears that day or not with a call to or from the pen.  Or is everyone sharp generally in the pen and then it falls apart on the bump?

[Bemorewins]

7 hours ago, scarey1999 said:

I’m trying to figure out how to ask this without being disrespectful or getting put into timeout, but how is what he said offensive? The term “kamikaze” is not considered derogatory nor a slur in modern Japan. 

I don’t want to get into the “hows” or “whys”. If it could be interpreted as offensive, I think the best practice is to avoid doing it/using the term. 

There are ways of talking about Fujinama’s awfulness that don’t involve having to go there.

[Roy Firestone]

11 hours ago, Rbiggs2525 said:

The Orioles need an off-season to work with his mechanics. I agree the pause at the top of his wind up is concerning. Please just give McDermott a shot. 

McDermott has been hurt.

[o'sfansince1970]

I don't see how he can be on the post season roster. There are plenty of arms for a short series anyway. I felt so bad for the team yesterday and that was certainly not the first time he has had nothing. Work on things in the offseason and we'll see you at ST.

[BRobinsonfan]

I don't know if he's fixable or not but his mechanics seem perpetually out of wack.  He looks like he's awkwardly balancing on his back leg and teetering in one direction or another as he begins his movement toward the plate.  It's never the same look twice.  

[Tony-OH]

6 minutes ago, BRobinsonfan said:

I don't know if he's fixable or not but his mechanics seem perpetually out of wack.  He looks like he's awkwardly balancing on his back leg and teetering in one direction or another as he begins his movement toward the plate.  It's never the same look twice.  

He definitely struggles to repeat his mechanic and that certainly is a big part of his control problems. the thing is with Fuji, when he's on, he can be an absolute dominant pitcher, but unfortunately, when he's off, he's awful. I wonder if they can tell that during his warm ups or if has to be determined on the mound in a game? 

Either way, he always needs to be monitored closely and always have a guy up behind him just in case bad Fuji arrives on the scene.

[Tony-OH]

The one thing Hyde needs to take into consideration, and I know it's tough when the bullpen is worn out like it is right now, but Fuji can't be used in back to back days.

He's pitched 11 times this year with 0 days rest has allowed 11 earned runs on 13 hits and six walks in just 7.2 IP to sport a 12.91 ERA. His 2.48 WHIP tells you everything you need to know that he's not a guy that can recover quickly. 1-3 days rest seems to be his sweet spot.

[Aristotelian]

12 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

The one thing Hyde needs to take into consideration, and I know it's tough when the bullpen is worn out like it is right now, but Fuji can't be used in back to back days.

He's pitched 11 times this year with 0 days rest has allowed 11 earned runs on 13 hits and six walks in just 7.2 IP to sport a 12.91 ERA. His 2.48 WHIP tells you everything you need to know that he's not a guy that can recover quickly. 1-3 days rest seems to be his sweet spot.

Agreed. And yesterday he had a day off but had thrown 40 pitches the previous two days in a row. Hopefully Flaherty to the bullpen keeps him fresh.

[SouthRider]

What I wonder about Fuji is how did he end up on the low budget A's?   If he was any good why weren't the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, etc... in on him? 

[Malike]

Fuji reminds me of pre-2023 Cano, not in raw stuff but in results. I do think he's salvageable by the right team and could have a nice career in an MLB pen.

[Tony-OH]

2 minutes ago, SouthRider said:

What I wonder about Fuji is how did he end up on the low budget A's?   If he was any good why weren't the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, etc... in on him? 

There's a good piece on him that is linked somewhere earlier in this thread. In synopsis, he was once a very top prospects that fizzled out in the Japanese League due to imagine this, inconsistency of command. 

His 5.00 ERA with the Orioles better than his 8.57 ERA with the A's, but you can why teams were leery.

[scarey1999]

3 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

I don’t want to get into the “hows” or “whys”. If it could be interpreted as offensive, I think the best practice is to avoid doing it/using the term. 

There are ways of talking about Fujinama’s awfulness that don’t involve having to go there.

 

7 hours ago, Jagwar said:

Would he have used the term "kamikaze" if Fuji was Dutch? Or Irish?

While I can understand the notion behind this line of thinking, it’s a bit misguided when given the context, understanding and meaning of the term in today’s Japan. Could there be better or other ways to describe his performance this far? Probably. Is the term offensive, racist or “cancellable” or anything of that sort to the Japanese? Far from it. I’ve spent quite a bit of time around Asian and Japanese folks. From what I know and have been told, this is a non starter.

Just wanted to share that perspective because it’s important to be able to see and understand things from a world view and not just the bubble we live in here in the States. 

Somewhat ironically, given the what ifs above if he were Irish, etc. That is actually where the Japanese take issue with the term being used is if it’s tied to the context of some terroristic act that is carried out against innocent civilians. If the 9/11 or OKC guilty parties had been called “kamikazes”, that is where definitive offense would be taken because of improper use. 

I’ll leave it at that. I realize this is not the proper forum for a full on discussion of such things, but wanted to show the other side of the coin. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by scarey1999

[drjohnnyfever1]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

He definitely struggles to repeat his mechanic and that certainly is a big part of his control problems. the thing is with Fuji, when he's on, he can be an absolute dominant pitcher, but unfortunately, when he's off, he's awful. I wonder if they can tell that during his warm ups or if has to be determined on the mound in a game? 

Either way, he always needs to be monitored closely and always have a guy up behind him just in case bad Fuji arrives on the scene.

I agree.  Maybe he needs MORE warm up.  Get in a groove before ever coming in.

I would hope with a dozen or so warm-up pitches that they should know if he can hit the glove or if he's likely to miss the broad side of the barn.  I like the guy and hope we figure out a way to hang onto him and potentially work some magic on him as we did with Cano and Bautista.  But, as you say, they should never be warming him up all by himself and any reliever worth his salt needs to have the ability to do some back to back days.  He's too good on his good days to not try working it out.