‘Otani Rival’ Shintaro Fujinami, 29, is moving from the Oakland Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles.
“Shintaro Fujinami is moving from Oakland to Baltimore via trade,” New York Post columnist John Heyman, a leading source in Major League Baseball, announced on Tuesday.토스카지노
Fujinami threw a 160km fastball in high school and was considered a rival to Ohtani. He made his professional debut with the Hanshin Tigers and posted three consecutive double-digit win seasons from 2013, but struggled with his delivery and injuries after 2017. In 2020, he was indefinitely demoted to the second team for being late for team training following a COVID-19 infection.
After going 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 games last year, Fujinami pursued a move to the major leagues through the posting system after the season ended, and finally realised his dream of playing in the United States in January when he signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with Oakland.
Contrary to expectations, Fujinami struggled in the month of April, going winless with a 13.00 ERA in four losses, starting with eight runs in 2⅓ innings in his debut against the Los Angeles Angels on 2 April. He continued his slump in May with a 10.50 monthly ERA without much of a turnaround.
Fujinami entered June with a 3.97 monthly ERA and a six-game scoreless streak from 29 June against the New York Yankees to 10 July against the Boston Red Sox. He gave up a game-winning home run to the Minnesota Twins on the 15th, but followed it up with 1⅔ scoreless innings against Minnesota on the 17th and a scoreless inning against the Boston Red Sox on the 19th.
Fujinami’s July record is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in seven games, and his season ERA, which at one point soared to 30.86, has fallen to 8.57.Baltimore, which leads the American League East, moved into first place in the division by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. They are 58-37 on the season for a .611 winning percentage. Fujinami, who was with last-place Oakland (27-71) in the West, improved his chances of reaching the major league postseason in his rookie year with the move.
In return for Fujinami, Oakland received left-hander Easton Lucas, 27, from Triple-A Baltimore.