Shintaro Fujinami

[Just Regular]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

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.

I was mentally adjusting for today's 2-3 inning context, though those were the actual lengths Sammy went in Games 3-4 of the '83 Series, when as a child I saw him as a "middle reliever" not realizing that he led Orioles Pitchers in WPA.

Scott McGregor's Game 5 shutout was such low leverage work!

[HakunaSakata]

4 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

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

He was terrible in April/May, but he's been pretty solid since June. I'm sure that's why they targeted him. 

[dzorange]

I love how Fujinami fits in the Orioles bullpen.

If there's one thing the bullpen has the ability to do, it's getting strikeouts in high leverage situations. I think it's an incredibly valuable tool especially now with the extra inning rules. Bautista, Cano, Fujinami, and Baker can all get thrown in there with the hopes of getting out of a major jam by throwing heat.

Coulombe doesn't throw hard but gets strikeouts, as well.

[dystopia]

I feel like we could re-sign him for cheap if he does well for us 

[Fan4Life]

27 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

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.

All this is true.. but doesn't tell the whole story. Trying to throw 6 pitches wasn't a recipe for success. Now that he is down to 3-ish, he's much better, thus far. 

[banks703]

27 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

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

I looked at his numbers, not because I have to be right but because I think that there is more to his production than just what's on the surface.

 

He started 7 games for the A's according to the interwebs:

 

Date	IP	ER
24-Jun	1	2
13-Jun	1
2-Jun	1	2
22-Apr	1	8
15-Apr	1	3
8-Apr	1	5
1-Apr	1	8
	7	26

 

He's pitched 55.2 total innings this year and surrendered 50 ER but as a reliever, as of right now he's thrown 48.2 innings and given up 24 ER for a 4.44 ERA. 

I agree, that's nothing remarkable but if we look at his game log, we have to go all the way back to 5/22 to find a game where he gave up more than two runs. From that appearance on 5/22 to date, he's thrown 27.1 innings and given up 11 ER for an ERA of 3.63.

If that's who the O's acquired for a middling pitching prospect, I'll take that all day. I would argue that no one in their pen has the arm talent that Fuji has.. maybe Felix but let's not forget that Felix and Cano and Perez and just about everyone that is in their pen right now were all forgotten about pitchers or given up on by other organizations and the O's turned them into productive players. I think what Fuji brings could potentially be Felix-like. I really do. The biggest thing with him obviously is can he command his pitches? I have confidence that the O's will figure out how to put Fuji in the best possible situation(s) to succeed. 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by banks703

[DrungoHazewood]

20 minutes ago, HakunaSakata said:

He was terrible in April/May, but he's been pretty solid since June. I'm sure that's why they targeted him. 

I'm sure that's part of it. Also, I have to think they had scouting reports and data that indicated they could change his mix of pitches to be more effective.

[Say O!]

Love that Fuji can also be a viable multi-inning guy.

[sportsfan8703]

Just like with Hicks, I don’t care about his full season stat numbers, or his stats before we got him. This is a new role, in a new place. 100 mph gets turned around pretty fast. See his first pitch and Volpe last night, but I think he could be an effective FB/Splitter guy with an occasional 3rd pitch. 

Good acquisition considering the cost. 

[Malike]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

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.

I think it's fair to stay it might be one of the straightest in baseball. Statcast says there is a 1.2" of movement on it and he's in the bottom of the league percentile-wise in avg exit velo, hard hit %, BB%, Chase rate, and fastball spin rate.

Bautista only has 1.4 on his fastball, which we all know is pretty straight too but people don't barrel it nearly as much and he's in the top 84th percentile in spin rate on it.

[emmett16]

2 hours ago, dystopia said:

I feel like we could re-sign him for cheap if he does well for us 

I’d give him a fair 2 year deal now.  I think he’s gonna go off in the spotlight and get pricey. 

[Alasdaire]

 

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

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.

1 hour ago, Malike said:

I think it's fair to stay it might be one of the straightest in baseball. Statcast says there is a 1.2" of movement on it and he's in the bottom of the league percentile-wise in avg exit velo, hard hit %, BB%, Chase rate, and fastball spin rate.

Bautista only has 1.4 on his fastball, which we all know is pretty straight too but people don't barrel it nearly as much and he's in the top 84th percentile in spin rate on it.

Something I've noticed too re. Fuji's fastball movement. It's a hittable pitch when guys are sitting on it.

Beyond Felix having a couple ticks more velo and a devastating secondary offering that looks the same as the fastball out of his hand, I think you can also attribute the success of Felix's fastball as an out pitch to location. Felix is constantly baiting guys into taking ill-advised swings on fastballs above the zone, which is a very tempting spot for hitters, whereas Fuji doesn't go up there nearly as often.

High heat is definitely been a mantra that pitching coaches in America at least have been preaching for awhile, so I wonder if Fuji will target that area more as time goes on.

 

[interloper]

He looks looser out there now, showing more personality. Got squeezed a bit and still made the Yankees look silly. If he keeps it up, it's such a huge boost to the bullpen. 

[LA2]

44 minutes ago, interloper said:

He looks looser out there now, showing more personality. Got squeezed a bit and still made the Yankees look silly. If he keeps it up, it's such a huge boost to the bullpen. 

Yes he def got squeezed and brushed it off w a wry grin--important trait

[Malike]

7 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Yes he def got squeezed and brushed it off w a wry grin--important trait

I noticed that as well. I will say that I'm not sure if he's getting squeezed or he just throws too hard so when McCann set up outside and he yanked it inside, he had to reach for it, and despite K zone showing it as a strike, I think that reach from McCann at that velo just makes the ump think it's a ball.