Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Takes loss as opener
Rotowire
Fujinami (2-6) took the loss as the opener against the Marlins on Friday, allowing two earned runs on two hits over one inning. He struck out one.
The oft-embattled right-hander was unable to escape his one frame unscathed, qualifying for the loss after surrendering a two-run home run to Jesus Sanchez that would have been enough for the Marlins against the punchless Athletics. On the bright side, Fujinami did refrain from issuing a walk for his fourth straight appearance, but the long ball was the second he's allowed in his last 2.1 innings. The 29-year-old figures to continue being deployed in low-leverage scenarios for the foreseeable future.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Serving as opener Friday
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Fujinami will serve as the Athletics' opener Friday against the Marlins, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Fujinami's first season in the majors has certainly been rough, as he holds a 12.00 ERA and 1.97 WHIP through 30 innings. However, he's seen an uptick in performance recently, allowing one run on one hit over 2.1 frames. Fujinami will likely stay in Friday's game for an inning or two before turning things over to Hogan Harris, who will take on most of the workload.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Gets second win Tuesday
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Fujinami (2-5) got the win against Atlanta on Tuesday, retiring the only batter he faced on a foul pop-up.
Fujinami, who's experienced a mostly nightmarish start to his MLB career after a largely successful multi-season stint in Japan, fittingly got the victory on a night in which the Athletics established only their second two-game win streak of the season. The starter-turned-reliever has his own modest stretch of success going at present, as he's allowed just an earned run on one hit over the 2.1 innings covering his last three appearances, a sample in which he hasn't walked a batter after issuing 24 free passes over his first 27.2 frames.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Takes loss in relief Wednesday
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Fujinami (1-5) took the loss against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, allowing two earned runs on a hit and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. He struck out one.
Fujinami's nightmarish debut MLB campaign took another dark turn with Wednesday's performance, which saw him concede multiple earned runs for the second straight appearance and fifth time overall across nine relief outings. The former NPB hurler put three of the first four batters he faced to open the ninth on base -- one via intentional walk -- before exiting, and he then saw Adrian Martinez allow two of them to come across via a sacrifice fly and single, respectively. Fujinami's ERA and WHIP ballooned to 12.62 and 2.14, respectively, with Wednesday's outing, and it's certainly fair to wonder how much longer he can be kept around at the big-league level in any capacity, even on a non-contending team.
Fujinami fired 2.1 scoreless, hitless relief innings during which he allowed a walk and recorded two strikeouts in Wednesday's loss to the Yankees.
The nearly perfect multi-inning outing qualifies as one of Fujinami's most encouraging stints on the mound during his brief time in an Athletics uniform. The offseason acquisition has struggled considerably with control, yet he recorded his seven outs on an economical 35 pitches while facing a dangerous lineup Wednesday. Fujinami's 12.52 ERA and 2.04 WHIP are stark reminders of how far he has to go in completely righting the ship, but he should continue to receive regular opportunities to do so in low-leverage situations.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Struggles continue in bullpen
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Fujinami allowed three earned runs on four hits over 1.1 innings of relief in a loss to the Royals on Sunday.
The demoted starter also surrendered three earned runs on three walks over just one-third of an inning during the series opener on Friday night, making it a forgettable weekend for the offseason acquisition from Japan. Control has typically been Fujinami's undoing -- he's carrying an 8.3 BB/9 across 20.2 innings despite not allowing a walk in two of his last three appearances -- and he therefore appears destined to pitch in fantasy-irrelevant spots for the foreseeable future.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Struggles in relief Friday
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Fujinami allowed two earned runs on two hits, three walks and a wild pitch across one inning of relief in Friday's loss to the Reds. He struck out one.
Following a solid two-inning relief debut Wednesday against the Angels, Fujinami turned in an outing reminiscent of the ones that earned him a demotion from the starting rotation. The Japanese rookie got just 18 of his 36 pitches into the strike zone during his time on the mound and allowed runs on a pair of singles and a wild pitch. Fujinami projects to continue seeing low-leverage opportunities until he's able to put together a sustained stretch of efficient pitching.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Shifting to relief role
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Fujinami will be used out of the bullpen until further notice, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Fujinami has struggled as a starter through the first few weeks of the 2023 campaign, accruing a 14.40 ERA and 2.07 WHIP with a 12:12 K:BB across 15 frames. "We're going to put him in the pen and try to use him in a leverage role where we could watch him throw strikes and get his fastball command back," said manager Mark Kotsay, per Gallegos. "Not to say he can't return into the rotation, but in the short term, we're going to assess him in that direction."
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Continues to struggle
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Fujinami (0-4) took the loss Saturday, allowing eight runs on seven hits and three walks over 2.1 innings against Texas. He struck out two.
Fujinami has gotten off to a brutal start this season, posting a 14.40 ERA and 2.07 WHIP over four appearances. The rookie has plenty of time to right the ship, but he cannot be trusted in fantasy until he strings together some quality starts. The right-hander is tentatively slated to face the Angels on the road in his next appearance.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Takes loss despite quality start
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Fujinami (0-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks over six-plus innings during a 3-2 loss to the Mets. He struck out five.
Aside from a solo shot from Pete Alonso in the fourth inning, Fujinami was sharp through six innings. However, he surrendered a leadoff home run to Mark Canha in the seventh and was pulled after walking the next batter. That baserunner ended up coming around to score on a go-ahead, RBI double by Brandon Nimmo, so three runs were charged to Fujinami. Despite picking up a third straight loss, Fujinami took a major step in the right direction Saturday and will look to build on his success during his next start, which is tentatively scheduled next weekend's three-game set at Texas.
Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Struggles again in loss
Rotowire
Fujinami (0-2) took the loss Saturday, allowing five runs on three hits and four walks with one strikeout over 4.1 innings against Tampa Bay.
The first three innings went well for Fujinami as he kept the red-hot Rays lineup off the board. Things fell apart from there, as he gave up a two-run single to Isaac Paredes in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth to Randy Arozarena. Another run was charged to him after he left in the fifth. It has not been an impressive first two outings for the right-handed rookie, and he's now the owner of a 17.55 ERA and 2.25 WHIP over his 6.2 innings of work. He's tentatively scheduled for another challenging task next weekend against the Mets.
Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Pummeled in big-league debut
Rotowire
Fujinami (0-1) took the loss against the Angels on Saturday, allowing eight runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four batters over 2.1 innings.
After 10 years pitching in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers, Fujinami signed on with the Athletics in January. This probably wasn't how he envisioned his first major-league start going, as the Angels chased him after just 2.1 frames. The right-hander actually looked great over his first two innings, striking out four batters without allowing a baserunner. Things completely unraveled for him in the third, however, as Los Angeles put eight of the first nine batters on base, with the only out being recorded on a sacrifice fly. Fujinami will look for much better results the next time he takes the mound, which is tentatively scheduled to be next Saturday in Tampa.
Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Set to start every Saturday
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Fujinami will start once a week on Saturday's to open the season, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Previous reports indicated that Fujinami would start every six days, meaning they could use a five-man rotation in weeks when they have an off day. The decision to lock Fujinami into a once-a-week role to ease his transition from Japan means the Athletics may be forced to turn to six starters on a regular basis, though the team has yet to clarify its full plans. Assuming he does indeed exclusively pitch on Saturday's, Fujinami's first three outings will be home against the Angels, away against the Rays and home against the Mets.
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Athletics' Shintaro Fujinami: Will start every sixth day
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Fujinami will start every sixth day this season for the Athletics, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
That's the schedule Fujinami is used to from his time in Japan and the A's want to keep it that way, at least for now. Some early-season off days will allow the club to go with five starters for a while, but eventually it will have to use a six-man rotation and/or a spot starter in order to incorporate the plan for Fujinami.
