Shintaro Fujinami/Playing career

Japanese right-handed pitcher A document covering Shintaro Fujinami 's career as a player.

In the first year of elementary school, he joined the boys' baseball team and started playing baseball, and while attending Sakai Municipal Miyayamadai Middle School, he received attention as a pitcher early enough to record the highest speed of 142 km/h as a pitcher. In his third year of junior high school, he competed in the AA World Youth Baseball Championship as a member of the Japanese national team.[1] After graduating from junior high school, he went to Osaka Toin High School, a prestigious baseball high school in the Osaka area.

After entering Osaka Toin High School, he started competing in the summer of his first year and became an ace in the spring of his second year.[2] In the summer of his sophomore year, in the Koshien Regional Preliminary Final, he was knocked out by Higashi Osaka University, Kashiwara High School, and was eliminated from the team.[3] In 2012, when he was in his third year, he became a super high school level pitcher with a great awakening and a maximum speed of 153 km/h, forming a battery with Tomoya Mori, a year younger than him, contributing to the 7th spring/summer streak in his alma mater’s high school baseball history.[4] In the 2012 spring Koshien, he set a record for the first time by recording a maximum speed of 150 km/h in all five matches, and in the summer Koshien, he led his alma mater to victory by shutting out both the semifinals and finals. Consecutive shutouts in the semifinals and finals was the first record in 20 years. In the semifinals against Meitoku Gijuku High School, the representative of Kochi Prefecture, 2 hits, no runs and 8 strikeouts, and in the final, 2 hits, no runs and 14 strikeouts . Note that these two matches were played one day apart. The semifinals were held on August 22nd, and the finals were held on the 23rd. Fujinami showed his fighting spirit by throwing 260 pitches in two days. Osaka Toin High School in 2012, with Fujinami at the forefront, is said to be one of the strongest teams in Koshien history.[5] His career record at Koshien was 76 innings, 1.07 ERA, and 90 strikeouts. His nickname at the time was 'Naniwa Darvish'.

After such a sensational performance at Koshien, he won a complete victory against Taiwan with 13 strikeouts and two runs against Korea at the World Youth Baseball Championship held in Korea . The record is 1.11 ERA in 24⅓ innings in 4 games. He was also selected to the tournament's All-Star team and was later named the 2012 U-18 Most Valuable Player by the International Baseball Federation. He also won the National Sports Festival held in the fall and achieved the first high school triple crown since Daisuke Matsuzaka .

Later, Fujinami participated in the 2012 professional baseball draft, with Nao Higashihama , Tomoyuki Sugano , and Shohei Otani as draft motives for this year. If Higashihama was the biggest college pitcher in the draft at the time, Fujinami was by far the biggest high school pitcher.[6] As expected, he received simultaneous nominations from 4 clubs in the first round, overtaking Higashihama, who was nominated by 3 clubs, and became the most multiple-designated player in the draft. The four teams that nominated Fujinami, in order of nomination, were Orix Buffaloes , Hanshin Tigers , Chiba Lotte Marines , and Tokyo Yakult Swallows .[7] Director Yutaka Wada succeeded in winning the negotiation rights through a lottery, and Hanshin won the negotiation rights.

After that, on November 15th, he signed a provisional contract with the best conditions: a down payment of 100 million yen, an incentive of 50 million yen, and an annual salary of 15 million yen. The uniform number is 19, which is known to have been presented with the meaning of 'Down with Kyojin' .[9]

While Shohei Otani , who was attempting the dual sword style, was slowing down due to a sprained ankle, he made a soft landing by succeeding in entering the first-team roster at the opening. Afterwards, he made his first professional start in the third game of the opening series against Yakult held at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium on March 31, and achieved good results with 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned run) and 7 strikeouts in 6 innings. However, the Hanshin batting line was silent and eventually became a losing pitcher in his first professional appearance. However, after winning his first win against Yokohama on April 14, he received expectations by winning 3 wins including that victory.

On May 26, in an exchange match with the Nippon Ham , he had a confrontation with Shohei Otani, and Ohtani went 2 hits in 3 at-bats (2 doubles), and the pitching match ended in Ohtani's victory, but Fujinami fought hard in this game and won took care of

Fujinami , who won 6 wins before the All-Star break and set the first record since Masahiro Tanaka in 2007, is also selected for the All-Star game on the recommendation of the coach and is on a winning streak. In the All-Star game, he played an active part by blocking two scoreless innings.

As of August 22nd, including the victory against all teams, 17 games, 9 wins, 4 losses, 97⅓ innings, 83 hits, 89K/30BB ERA 2.59 showed compliance. Due to being out of the rotation due to injury, he has not yet entered the regulation innings.

Afterwards, in the match against Hiroshima held at Koshien on August 31, he became the winning pitcher with 1 run in 6 innings and succeeded in winning 10 wins in the season as a rookie. In the month of August, he recorded 4 wins and an ERA of 1.09, becoming the second Central League high school graduate to win the monthly MVP award.

Although there was no win due to a little sluggishness from September, the final result of the 2013 season was 10 wins, 6 losses, 137⅔ innings, ERA 2.75, and 126 strikeouts . Normally, the Rookie of the Year award would be very likely, but Yasuhiro Ogawa , a college graduate rookie who joined Yakult in the second round of the same year , was pushed out with a phenomenal record of 16 wins, 4 losses, 178 innings, 135 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.93. Still, he received the Central League Federation Special Rookie Award along with Sugano.

In the first stage of the climax series against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, considering the season performance against Hiroshima (2 matches, 2 wins, ERA 0.75), it was unusual for a high school graduate rookie to be selected as the starting match, and faced Kenta Maeda , but lost 4 runs in 5 innings. . Also, Hanshin, the affiliated team, lost the second game and was eliminated.

He received 15 million yen for the first year, but his contract was renewed for 45 million yen, a 200% increase due to his outstanding performance. In March, when the exhibition game was held, he pitched against Shohei Otani for the first time since high school , but lost with 5 runs in 5 innings.

He started against Chunichi on April 1, the fourth game since the opening, but embraced the first loss of the season by allowing 6 runs in 8 innings. His first win of the season was scored on 15 April away to Hiroshima. In the top of the 6th inning of this game, he also recorded his first professional home run from Hiroshima’s Aren Kuria, who took the mound in relief. The result of the game was 7 innings, 2 runs and 7 strikeouts.

It was often slower than expected. When he wins, he is definitely a winning pitcher, but the problem is that he is often robbed. Getting on base is allowed too easily from the beginning of the game, but a full count situation is created too often, and in such a situation, a vicious cycle in which the number of base runners increases as the number of wins is not strong enough to lead to on base often occurs. However, strangely, as the number of pitches increases, the pitches get better, so the casters of Afreeca TV , which was broadcasting Hanshin home games in Korea , made Fujinami throw about 5 to 60 pitches before the game to prevent him from losing a run in the early stages of the game. He even jokingly said that he had to pitch. The pitcher who recorded 10 strikeouts in 7 innings against Hiroshima on May 14, the previous game, was knocked out with 6 runs (4 earned runs) in 2 innings in the next match against Orix against Exchange.

Once again, after the All-Star Game, which was selected for the second year in a row by the coach's recommendation, on July 15th at the Nagoya Dome in the Chunichi away game, he recorded his first complete win as a professional. He recorded 13 strikeouts in 9 innings, but allowed one run, which was recorded as an earned run, so the shutout was blown to the next opportunity. After that, he recorded his 10th win of the season against Chunichi on September 19th. The Central League high school graduate rookie's 10 victories for two consecutive years is the first record in 46 years since Yutaka Enatsu . Even including the Pacific League , it was the first record in 14 years since Daisuke Matsuzaka , who was called the monster of Heisei .

The final result of the 2014 season was 11-8 with a 3.53 ERA in 163 innings and 172 strikeouts.

In the first stage of the 2014 Central League Climax Series against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp , the 3rd round selection was scheduled, but the team passed with 1 win and 1 draw, so he appeared as a selection in the 1st round of the final stage. Similar to last year, the opponent selection was veteran Tetsuya Utsumi , which Hanshin fans were a little worried about, but Shinnosuke Abe hit a solo home run in the 7th inning, but other than that, he didn't allow runs, so he became the winning pitcher with 1 run in 7 innings. In particular, after a home run in the bottom of the 7th inning, Cuba's national team hitter Frederic Cepeda made a 3-2-3 double kill, followed by Hirokazu Ibata 's at-bat to deal with a fly ball to first base, making a good pitch to block the bases loaded crisis with a scoreless run. Oh Seung-hwan 's 9th inning With the deletion, he became a winning pitcher. With this victory, he set the record for the youngest pitcher to win the Climax Series in the Central League, and broke Minoru Murayama 's record for the youngest winning pitcher in the postseason in the 1962 Japan Series within the Hanshin Club.

The team also defeated Yomiuri with 4 wins and advanced to the 2014 Japan Series . Fujinami started Game 3 against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks but lost. He did his best in his first Japan Series pitching with 3 runs in 5⅔ innings, but Kenji Otonari , who was the starting pitcher, played 7 scoreless innings, and the team only scored 1 run in the top of the 9th inning. After that, the team went down to the 5th game and gave up the championship with 1 win and 4 losses. After the season, he was also elected as the 2014 US-Japan baseball representative, and renewed the contract for 85 million yen, an annual salary increase of 40 million yen.

Before the start of the season, he was selected as the Japanese national team for a match against the European national team, and pitched in relief in the first game, pitching 2 scoreless innings. On May 20, against Yomiuri, he recorded his first complete shutout as a professional, and also pitched against Rakuten on the 27th, an exchange match , recording 10 scoreless innings. With this, he set a record for the most innings played in a single game and succeeded in extending the record of consecutive scoreless innings to 26 innings since the match against Yakult on May 14. Afterwards , he pitched well in the next match against Chiba Lotte on June 3, but in the 7th inning, a run was made due to an error by a fielder, and the record stopped at 32⅓ innings. With such a good pitch, he succeeded in three consecutive appearances in the All-Star Game through the coach's recommendation, and was selected as the MVP by making a relief mound in the first game and blocking 3 innings with no hits and no balls. It was a record for a Hanshin pitcher in 44 years since Yutaka Enatsu 's first game in 1971.

After the season, the final result was 28 games, ERA 2.40, 14 wins, 7 losses, 199 innings, 221 strikeouts, 7 complete throws and 4 shutouts . 7 complete games and 4 shutouts were both tops in both major leagues. Not only in Hanshin, but also in all of Japan, he recorded an ace-class performance.

However, if there is one small flaw, the team has been on the mound since September, and in a situation where one more win can confirm the advance to the climax series, the team's fate was staked on the team's last game of the season, and it took the mound as a starter. He suffered a sluggish performance of 4 runs and was completely defeated in a confrontation with Hiroki Kuroda , the starting pitcher of the opposing team, who pitched 8⅓ scoreless innings . Thanks to this, Hanshin was forced into a situation in which whether or not to advance to the Climax Series was decided according to the results of Hiroshima's remaining one game.

Fortunately, Hiroshima lost the last game, so the team succeeded in advancing to the Climax Series , but lost 1 win and 2 losses to the Yomiuri Giants , failing to advance to the final stage. However, this was the first season in which he pitched 200 innings, which was one inning short, and he was the strikeout king, so Hanshin fans' expectations for Fujinami have risen considerably.

Since the debut of a high school graduate rookie, 3 consecutive 10 wins is also a record in 14 years since Daisuke Matsuzaka , and only 9 players recorded this.[11] The record of 200 strikeouts by a player in his third year of high school was also the first record since Yu Darvish, and it was a year in which he recorded a record comparable to Japan's leading aces.

Afterwards, he was selected as one of the 28 players on the final roster for the 2015 WBSC Premier 12 Japan national team. His uniform number was given 17, and he was the only one among Hanshin players to be called up, but he voluntarily resigned from the national team after two weeks due to inflammation in his right shoulder from the second half of the regular season. Substitute player Yakult's Yasuhiro Ogawa was called up. He renewed his contract with the team for an estimated annual salary of 170 million yen, twice the previous one, and received the highest annual salary in Hanshin history as a player in his fourth year of joining.

In the first half, the results fell short of expectations, but the Hanshin team itself suffered a total setback in terms of the batting line, bullpen, and defense, so Fujinami suffered some losses, but even taking that into account, the first half was disappointing. He was sluggish in his exhibition game, the open, but showed a good start with 3 wins in 3 matches since the first appearance of the season. However, after that, he failed to win and was sluggish again.

After not winning for over a month after the match against Rakuten on June 2nd, he pitched in the mound on July 8th in a home game against No. 1 Hiroshima. As the number of pitches that day was 161 , suspicion arose naturally, and coach Tomoaki Kanemoto revealed in an interview that there was such an intention, causing quite a bit of controversy.

He participated in the All-Star game for four consecutive years on the recommendation of the coach, but ended the season with a 3.25 ERA in 26 appearances, 7 wins, 11 losses, 169 innings, 70 walks, and 176 strikeouts. Of course, there was a lack of luck, but considering the expectations for him, it was said that it was definitely a disappointing result. Perhaps because of this, his contract renewal annual salary was 160 million yen, the first annual salary reduction since he joined the pros.

Although he performed poorly the previous year, he was selected to the Japan national team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic . Players selected from the Hanshin club are designated pitchers. There are only two , Yuta Iwasada and Shintaro Fujinami.

Due to excessive walks due to lack of ball control in practice games and preliminaries, he was unable to pitch in the finals, except for a relief appearance against China in the first round, where he pitched 2 innings. In the game against China where he pitched, he struck out 4 and allowed no runs in 2 innings, but gave up 2 walks and walks and was unable to pitch after that. To put it mildly, there were even calls among Hanshin fans to have him return to the team before the Open and at least adjust his condition if things are going to be like this.

And in the aftermath of that, in his first appearance after the opening of the season, on April 4, against Yakult, he gave up 8 walks until the 5th inning, showing a serious problem with his control, but Yakult's main player, Kazuhiro Hatakeyama, had a body close to a threat . The ball was given away, which led to a brawl between the two teams. By the way, in 2016, Fujinami also injured a Yakult player with a ball, so the fight took place. In the process, coaches Vladimir Valentin of Yakult and Akihiro Yano of Hanshin showed aggressive behavior such as shoving and kicking each other, and the bench clearing between the two teams turned into a brawl.

After that, he played 7 games and recorded 3 wins and 3 losses with an ERA of 2.66, but he only gave up no runs, but he could not throw 6 innings due to lack of control.

Two months later, on August 16, he returned to Hiroshima, where he again showed poor control, and his registration was canceled after the game. His game performance was 4⅔ innings, 5 walks and 2 balls fit. As for how bad his control was, even the pitcher Daichi Osera, who was far away from the base because he had no will to hit, showed his control power shaking enough to give a ball that hit the body closer to the head. Ocera, who was hit by a ball to the body, smiled at Fujinami saying it was okay, and afterwards, he showed the appearance of giving a ball that hit the body to second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi . Besides, it's a bonus that he almost gave out sand dunes a few more times. Control was so bad that day that even though many balls came through the dangerous course, the Hiroshima players and coaching staff did not take a bad look at Fujinami, and even seemed to pity her.

At the time of registration cancellation on August 17, Fujinami's performance as a starter in 8 games appeared to be respectable at first glance with an ERA of 2.98, but he gave up a whopping 43 walks while pitching 45⅓ innings and his WHIP was at the worst level at 1.74 . His appearance and FIP was 5.62, so the gap with his ERA was so severe that he actually should not have been pitched in the first team. Above all, since his debut until 2016, Fujinami's career strikeout rate exceeded 9, and he was a style that struck out well, but in 2017, he was so poor that he only caught 25 while pitching 45⅓ innings. In fact, it could only be seen that he was not competing properly with the opposing batter in the first place. As Fujinami showed considerable talent from his rookie days and showed a steady growth curve until 2015, voices criticizing Coach Kanemoto for his rapid decline after his inauguration have also grown. It is true to some extent that Coach Kanemoto developed a mental problem by criticizing Fujinami to the point of being mentally weak and scolding him for being mentally weak and dealing with the topic by building a wall with the management, such as not giving penalty kicks or not raising the pitch if a game is not played .

However, there is also a problem with Fujinami himself, and teammate Randy Messenger pointed out that even before Fujinami collapsed, “He neglects to train his lower body. The dominant opinion is that he has become a lazy player who only plays baseball with his talent in many ways, such as pointing out that he is in the .

There is also Karra himself who said, "The training was tougher in high school than the pros" during his second year as a pro. Observations have been made that the current situation may be the result of seeing the pro without knowing it, while achieving success before knowing the importance of self-training in order to make use of the strengths and correct the weaknesses without being told by anyone in the pro. On the other hand, Tomoya Mori , who formed a battery with himself in high school, although he settled in the 1st team and took the lead position later than he did, he is an offensive catcher representing the Pacific League as a result of his constant efforts to survive among Seibu's nuclear hitting seniors who say that everyone is on the same page when it comes to batting. Growing up showed a good contrast.

Afterwards, on August 27, he came back to the first team and started as a starter in the Yomiuri match, but he kept it scoreless until the 6th inning, but in the 7th inning with 1 out, it collapsed and allowed 6 runs ( 3 earned runs) and became a losing pitcher. Afterwards, he made two more starts, but both were grounded in the fourth inning after giving up a ball hit to the body.

The final result of the season was 11 games, 3 wins, 5 losses, 59 innings, ERA 4.12, 53 runs.[12] It was 41 strikeouts. It was the first season since Fujinami made his first-team debut in 2013 that the number of strikeouts was less than the sum of the walks.

Later, in the 2017 Climax Series, he pitched in relief from the 6th inning in the 3rd game against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars, blocking 2 innings with 1 hit and no runs. It was Fujinami's first relief appearance within Hanshin since his debut season. However , it was not possible to prevent the team from losing and being eliminated as Atsushi Nomi, who started, and Iwasaki, who started first, collapsed. After the season, he re-signed with the team for an estimated annual salary of 120 million yen, a reduction of 25% from the existing contract.

Beyond the 2017 season, to put it in a bad way, only the ball has become garbage. As of September 23, when the season was nearing the end of the season, he could not overcome his difficulties and continued to go back and forth with 49 innings, 35 walks, 47K ERA, 6.43 WHIP, recording an astonishing 1.837. On September 16, he hit a home run against Yokohama, and even joked that he was told to hit like Ohtani.[13]

On September 29, against Chunichi in Nagoya, he allowed only 5 hits and won a shutout for the first time in 2 years, ending the season with 5 wins. On September 22, 2016, after a complete victory over Hiroshima, Fujinami played 9 innings in just two years and a week. Afterwards, on October 6, he finished the season with 3 runs and 7 strikeouts in 7 innings against Yokohama.

The final result of the season was 5 wins, 3 losses, 71 innings, ERA 5.32 and 70 strikeouts in 13 games. He recorded 50 wins in total with a shutout win against Chunichi, reaching 50 wins as a high school graduate at the fastest pace since Yutaka Enatsu , but the fact that he has been very sluggish for two consecutive years cannot be denied.[14] In the end, in the 2018 year-end annual salary negotiations, he signed for 84 million yen, a reduction of 36 million yen from 120 million yen the previous year, resulting in a three-year reduction in annual salary.

Even in 2019, when I dreamed of a comeback, I still couldn't fix my anxiety. In his own Hongbaekjeon, the ball flew toward the batter's head twice, and in an exhibition match against Chunichi, he threw the ball toward the batter's head, showing an uneasy appearance. Nevertheless, the Hanshin team replaced Fujinami with the irrational number of 320-pitch bullpen pitching.

In the meantime, the news of an indefinite second military trip fell like a thunderbolt from heaven. This put him off the opening roster for the first time since joining the pros. Although he was anxious, he appeared as a relief in the exhibition game and seemed to have seen a little hope by blocking it, but it seems to be a measure to ensure that he is out of trouble.

In the end, 2019 ended with only one game in the first team without a win for the first time since joining. He was called up at the start of the second half, but on August 1 against Chunichi, he showed disastrous control with 4⅓ innings, 1 run, 3 strikeouts, 6 walks and 2 walks, and was demoted back to the 2nd team. However, he did not show a particularly good appearance in the second group. He could not avoid a salary cut, so the salary negotiations ended at 63 million yen, with the highest rate of regulation (25%) cut.

The opening was temporarily postponed to April 24, 2020 due to COVID-19, and on March 26 , the first Japanese professional baseball player was confirmed with Corona 19. This alone is shocking, but even more shocking is that Fujinami became the 158th confirmed case in Osaka Prefecture, where 8.8 million people live.[15] On the same team, outfielder Hayata Ito and catcher Kenya Nagasaka had dinner together afterwards.[16] Also, an emergency was triggered when the diagnosis was confirmed.

He was discharged from the hospital on April 7th. However, in an interview after being discharged, he said, “I reflect and apologize for causing concern to many people. Many fans are disappointed because he only mentioned, “ I will devote myself to baseball, ” and did not clearly explain the meeting at the time. In the past few years, his grades have continued to drop and he is involved in such an incident in a situation where he is not in a good position. As a result, trade articles are published in the media and fans are saying that he is falling outside of baseball.

After that, on May 29, I was notified of an indefinite second military service. The reason is that he was late during practice the day before. Even according to director Akihiro Yano 's interview, this is not the first time he has been late. That's why after meeting with Fujinami, he notified of going to the 2nd army.

In the end, he started the season with the 2nd team, but was promoted in July and announced as a selection against Hiroshima on July 23rd. In that game, he allowed 4 runs in 6 innings, 5 strikeouts and 4 hits as he allowed a home run to Jose Pirella, making him the losing pitcher.

Starting against Yakult on July 30th, 7 innings, 4 runs, 1 earned loss. However, apart from the results of the match, the contents of both matches were very good. The game on the 23rd was 6 innings, 3 hits and no runs until the grand slam, and the game on the 30th was 7 innings, 10K and 1 walk. He lost, but the content is very good, so he seems to get a few more chances in the future.

Starting against Yomiuri on August 5, 8 innings, 4 runs, 1 earned loss. With 7K 4 hits and 1 walk in 8 innings, the pitching was very good this time too, but I lost again. His ERA was brought down to 2.57, and he showed a revival after a few years, so he was given a spot in the rotation after 3 games. In particular, it is encouraging that the control power has greatly improved.

After that, the rotation was twisted, so he rested on the 9th and started against Hiroshima on the 14th of August. With 6 innings, 8 hits, 6K, 4 walks and 6 earned runs, it was cheap in a long time. 0 wins and 4 losses. Still, he shows a good pitch, striking out over 1 per inning.

Finally, on August 21, against Yakult, he scored 4 runs (2 earned runs) in 6 innings, becoming the winning pitcher in 692 days since his last win. At the time, in MLB, players who had corona, such as Juan Soto and Aroldis Chapman, returned and rebounded, and in the soccer world, Paulo Dybala ate MVP after recovering from corona, and Fujinami also threw a resurrection.

However, despite the above excitement, he recorded ND with 4 runs in 4⅔ innings against Hiroshima next, and showed shocking pitching with 11 runs in 4 innings (7 earned) against Yomiuri on September 5th. There are still a lot of strikeouts, but the ball quality is suddenly increasing, and the bad look of the past is showing again.

On September 13, against Hiroshima, he took the mound again, but gave up 5 runs in 3⅓ innings ND. After going well, he suddenly collapsed in 3 games in a row, but in the meantime, in the 11-run game against Yomiuri on the 5th, he was even seen sitting in the dugout and shedding tears, so there were many opinions that he was mentally concentrated. After that, on September 14th, it was expunged into the 2nd group.

In the end, it was decided to switch to the bullpen. It has been 7 years since he pitched once in the regular season as a rookie in the bullpen.[17] However, soon after, a group infection of the coronavirus occurred within the Hanshin club, and when pitchers such as Iwasada and Kosuke Baba were unable to play, the vacant positions were hastily filled. On the 26th, his first appearance in the bullpen, he recorded a loss with 1 earned run in 2 innings, but the next day he allowed 1 inning without allowing any runs. On September 29th, after switching to the bullpen, he recorded his highest velocity of 159 km/h and posted his first professional hold with 1 inning without allowing any runs. After pitching a scoreless pitch, he went into the dugout smiling and his mentality seemed to have recovered a lot.

On October 1, he came up as a relay pitcher in a situation where he was winning 2:0 in the top of the 8th inning. He threw fastballs that went back and forth between 156km/h and 160km/h against the Chunichi lineup, of which he threw 160km/h fastballs four times. Tobayashi, the first hitter, threw a slider that went into the winning pitch at 2B 2S, but struck out with a miss, and at the end of a 6-ball game against the third batter, Ryo Lee, he threw a big cut and went down after a three-way exit.

On October 4th, he was robbed with 3 runs in 1⅓ innings against Yomiuri, and two days later, he went down with 9 balls in 1 inning against Hiroshima, striking out 2 and dropping 3 runs. He's definitely improved once again after switching to the bullpen. After 3 runs against Yomiuri on the 4th, he scored no runs in all games he started, and rose to the position of the winning group. He again showed a strong performance, striking out more than one strikeout per inning. In particular, the scene where he threw a fastball at 162km/h, the club's highest speed limit, and recorded 3K in one inning against Yakult on the 19th was the highlight. #

After that, it was judged that he definitely regained his confidence, and he was announced as a starter against Chunichi on the 28th. It will be a watershed for him whether he will return to the starter or remain in the bullpen. The result of the day was 4 innings, 76 pitches, 2 hits, 2 walks, 6K, 1 run (no earned) ND. The team won 9-1. He pitched well, but it is estimated that he cut it to 4 innings to avoid suddenly increasing the number of pitches because he had been in the bullpen for a while. He's been in pretty good shape, so he's likely to give him a few more chances as a starter again.

After that, he pitched as a starter two more times, and finished the season with a good appearance with 6 scoreless innings against Yakult and 5 scoreless innings against Yokohama. It is encouraging that there were no earned points until the end of the season after the game on October 4th. He went back and forth between 5 starts and the bullpen, appearing in 24 games with an ERA of 4.01 and 85 strikeouts in 76⅓ innings.

However, in conclusion, I only recorded 1 win, 6 losses and ERA of 4.01, lost my starting position, experienced a midterm relegation, and it became a year that showed disappointing appearances such as corona infection before the season. After the season, he re-signed for 60 million yen, a slight cut from 63 million yen. Because he showed good form in the bullpen in the 20th season, there was also a plan to use it as a finisher for the 2021 season, but he renewed his contract with the existing closer Robert Suarez and Fujinami himself expressed his desire to start, so the 21st season seems to go as a starter.

In the exhibition game, he appeared in 3 games and showed a healthy performance with 8K and 2.77 in 13 innings, and in this season, he was selected as the starter for the opening game against the Yakult Swallows, taking on the important role of pitcher in the opening game for the first time. When his skills were high, mercenary ace Randy Messenger mainly served as the opening pitcher, and veteran Atsushi Nomi took on the role occasionally. He replaced Yuki Nishi , who was the opening pitcher last year, and became the opening pitcher for the first time in his professional career. Regardless, Hanshin's deficit is Fujinami, and this is a statement that shows the trust of the club. In the opening game, he pitched mediocre with 2K, 5 walks, and 2 runs in 5 innings, and ended up in a no-win situation. Hanshin won the game 4-3, and the winning pitcher was Ren Kajiya.

The second appearance was against Chunichi on April 2nd. 6 innings, 6K, 7 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, the first QS of the season, and I pitched well, but the team lost due to a fire in the bullpen.

The third appearance was against Yokohama on April 9, a week after. He pitched 7 innings, 7K, 1 home run, 2 runs, and 5 walks, earning his first win of the season. It was the first win in 22 matches since the match against Yakult in August last year. Super rookie Sato Teruaki scored 9 runs, including an out-of-field home run, and won 9-2.

His fourth appearance was against Yakult on April 16, when he pitched again after 5 days off on the 7th. He blocked it with 6K and 3 walks in 5⅔ innings, and hit a two-run home run at bat, which became the only RBI in the game, winning 2:0 and winning his second season. Scored and blocked by himself and was selected as the Daily MVP.[18] Also, since 2017, he became the winning pitcher in Koshien for the first time in 4 years.

Overall, the maximum speed was formed in the mid-150km, and the average speed was in the late 140s to early 150s, and the speed was lowered than in the previous season, but in exchange for the lowered speed, the control was improved to some extent. Still, BB/9 has a lot of walks in the upper half of the 5, but it has been brought down to the level where the game can be played anyway.

Anyway, at the beginning of the season, it seemed to be cruising for a long time after regaining some balance, but on April 23, 4 innings against Yokohama, 2 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 7 walks, 2 wild throws, and the next day, it was erased from the first team . It was in full swing, but it showed the bad side of the past and was very sluggish, but coach Akihiro Yano gave an interview with the nuance that it was an eradication that meant to adjust the form for a while in the 2nd team and that it would be recalled sooner or later . I have been unable to come up from the 2nd group for a month because of the onset of anxiety.

Then, entering the exchange game, he was called up again on the 4th, and since the call up, he has been pitching as a middle relief pitcher again. He took the mound in the 7th inning of a 2-2 tie against Nippon Ham on the 8th, and seemed to have broken Japan's record for the highest speed by recording 168 km/h, but it is said that the incident was caused by an electronic display error. 168 is said to be the batting speed, and the velocity of other balls was around 152 to 158, so it was assumed to be an error in the electronic display. However, the team's Trackman measurement records later said that 168 was correct, and Fujinami himself said that he thought 168 was correct. He revealed in a later interview that he didn't want to say that he threw 168 out of his own mouth, so he just didn't say it. Considering that he recorded the highest velocity among Asians in the Major League at 165.1km two years later, it would not have been surprising if he threw 168 in the 21st season when he was younger.

Since the call-up, he has been pitching only with the bullpen, but he is throwing well from the bullpen as he did last year. A player who throws more than 155km as a starter hits with all his might for one inning, so the strikeout rate reaches 1 per inning, so the powerful pitch is worth seeing. He played an active part in a winning group until July, and on July 13, against Dena again, he lost 4 runs in his first ball game and returned to the second group. He is said to be making adjustments with the goal of re-conversion from the 2nd team. It's definitely a shame to write it as an excuse, but...

After that, he came up with a game in August, gave up 4 runs in 4⅔ innings, and went to the second group again. He recorded his personal best of 162 km in the 2nd group.

The final result of the season was 3 wins, 3 losses, 48⅓ innings, ERA 5.21 and 52 strikeouts in 21 games. In the end, he failed to revive this year and ended the season as he wandered around. He was likely to face a salary cut for six consecutive years. In the end, it was reported that he had signed for 49 million yen, a cut of 11 million yen from 60 million yen in salary negotiations in December. It is about 3.6 times more than the amount cut last year.

This year should be different . Now the age is 28 years old, Koji Chikamoto of the same age was the player president and Yusuke Oyama was the captain in the previous season.[19] In other teams, there are many players of the same age, such as Yanagi Yuya and Kyoda Yota, who are recognized not only for their skills but also for their leadership. As if he knew this, he even participated in joint training with Tomoyuki Sugano, the ace pitcher of the Yomiuri Giants , a rival team in the offseason.

In the exhibition game, he showed a good figure with 19K 2.81 in 4 games, 16 innings, and was selected as a starter for the opening game against Yakult on March 26th. As the opening starter for two consecutive years, Hanshin is still in the red even though it has been sluggish for the past few years. In the opening game, he fought hard with QS, allowing 3 runs in 7 innings, but the bullpen made a huge mess with 7 runs and lost ND.

After that, on April 1, he made his second appearance against Gyojin. He lost the game in 4 innings, 4 walks, 7 hits, 3 home runs, 6 runs and 4 earned runs. The team went on a 7-game winning streak.

On April 8, he started against Carp, and was sluggish with 3 runs and 3 earned runs in 4 innings and recorded ND. After that, he was scheduled to start the game on April 14, but on April 13, along with pitchers Masashi Ito and Kosuke Baba , he was infected with corona and was erased. He became the first player to contract corona twice. Thankfully, he seems to be asymptomatic. For the game on the 14th, rookie Takuma Kirishiki was appointed as a substitute starter.

Starting in May, he gradually started throwing again in the second group. In the second group, he is shooting at 0 points, but the starting rotation is full, so there are articles saying that a call-up as a midfielder is likely. He was called up during the exchange match, pitched with the bullpen throughout the exchange match, and proved that he was not a bowler to play with the bullpen with no runs in all innings, and went down to the second team again on the 13th. He is said to be starting again in the 2nd team. After going back and forth between the bullpen and starter for several years, Fujinami seems to have accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction with the team, and the team seems to have less and less expectations for Fujinami. It seems that it is certain that he will leave the team.

In August, we finally finished our adjustments and called up. On August 6, he started against Hiroshima and made a quality start with 7K and 2 runs in 6⅓ innings, but recorded an ND.

After that, he recorded 3 runs in 7 consecutive innings and 1 run in 3 games in a row, and on September 3rd, he recorded 3 runs in 6 innings against Gyojin, showing a resurgence by fighting hard throughout the month. On September 9, he scored 7 runs in 4⅓ innings, but on September 18, against Yakult, he again scored 1 run in 6 innings, showing good pitching. It is encouraging that walks, a chronic problem, have almost disappeared by 1-2 per game.

After that, the team went into an all-out war for the ranking fight, and Fujinami had to stand by the bullpen. He won his 3rd win of the season with 2 innings, 1 hit and no runs on the 23rd. On September 28, he declared a major league baseball challenge. If the team allows it, they want to post it.

The team has confirmed its advance to the Climax Series, and is scheduled to wait in the bullpen for the last game of the season. It was an eventful season, but it was a season that managed to bring down the season ERA to 3 points and showed a slightly better appearance than the previous year.

In the postseason, he sortied as a starter in the second game of the final stage. It was a 1+1 strategy with Nishi Junya , but it was defeated with 2 runs in 3 innings, and the team was eliminated after being swept to Yakult.

And after the climax series was over, Hanshin gave permission to post. This is the first posting in 12 years since Kei Igawa and the second posting in the history of the club. As you can see that this is the second time in 12 years, Hanshin is originally a club that rarely posts, but looking at the current club and Fujinami's distorted relationship, even if they hold onto it until FA, it is obvious that they will go to Gyojin and return as a boomerang. It is a move to sell to the US for more money.

The evaluation of the post is quite ambiguous, but the bullpen is almost perfect, but the pattern of pooping when starting is repeated because of poor pitching. there is However, it is an ambiguous situation because they do not go all the way to the United States just to play in the bullpen. Even if Fujinami is sluggish, it is because he is expected to be the first starter in his prime. As a bullpen, he is already doing well in Japan, so there is no point in going to the United States if he is going to play in the bullpen. As for Daewoo, the Japanese selection is better than the American bullpen.

As an agent, he appointed Scott Boras , and in December, he was linked with the Arizona Diamondbacks . Arizona had fun with Yoshihisa Hirano a few years ago , so it seems that they are interested in a Japanese bullpen pitcher.

However, Fujinami says it wants at least 2 years and 14M. Of course, if Fujinami shows the class of 2015 and shoots close to 100 miles as a starter, that amount would of course be worth receiving, but recently, his pitching is completely broken, and his work ethic is not good. It is questionable whether he will receive that kind of money because there are plenty of pitchers with the lowest salary level, who show off more than that. Of course, the market is extremely overheated this offseason, so the chances of getting that are not zero, but...

On January 11, 2023, he signed a one-year contract worth $3.25 million with the Oakland Athletics . # Accordingly, Auckland will pay $650,000, or 20% of the total amount, to Hanshin.

Since 3.25 million dollars is a large investment for Oakland, it seemed that they would definitely try at least as a starting pitcher, but by trading Cole Irvine, who was supposed to be in charge of the first starter, it became an environment in which they were fully established as starting resources. The reason why I signed a contract with Auckland is because Auckland is currently rebuilding, so it is an environment where opportunities can be steadily received unless there is a dizzying sluggishness. In addition, there is also an expectation that the team color that is good at nurturing will find and fix the fundamental problems of the current Fujinami.

However, it is certainly worrisome that the team is going into unlimited tanking mode, with Oakland president Dave Cabal getting scolded for being a twin, general manager David Post leading a losing trade, and the stadium facilities being built later than Koshien Stadium and the facilities are much worse .

On the other hand, Fujinami chose Auckland in the American League West Division, where the Los Angeles Angels belong, among many teams, so in 2023 , he will face Shohei Otani quite often.

In spring training, he faced Shohei Ohtani in a starting matchup. #[20]

Unusually, in 2023, he will only pitch on Saturdays a week. #

There was a possibility of starting the opening game, but it was canceled when Kyle Mueller decided to take the mound. For reference, the opposing pitcher was Ohtani, and they almost faced each other again.

During the exhibition game, he recorded 3 wins in 5 games and an ERA of 3.86. He showed off a powerful pitch enough to strike out 20 in 18⅔ innings, but gave up 17 walks, showing little difference from his NPB days.

He pitched as a starter in the second game of the opening series, and showed a decent appearance with four strikeouts until the second inning, but collapsed miserably in the third inning. His final performance was 2⅓ innings, giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts and 8 runs. In the head-to-head match against Ohtani, which drew attention, he went 2 at-bats, 1 hit and 1 RBI, and in the first at-bat, the first baseman grounded. In the second at-bat, he allowed 1 RBI on time. The team lost 1-13 and became a losing pitcher. Even his mother came, but it seems that Fujinami himself is not touched by the shock of the explosion properly.

The 2nd game was a starter against the away Tampa Bay race , but lost with 79 pitches, 3 hits, 4 walks, 1K and 5 runs in 4⅓ innings. He had an earned run average of 17.55 for the season. The ball is extremely fast with a maximum speed of 98.3 miles, but it shows the familiar pitching seen in Hanshin, where 39 out of 79 pitches are balls, literally half of them are balls. He was a Koshien superstar from a place he was selected in the first round only by Hanshin, and at the same time a local boy and a first-class ace until 2015, so the support of the fans was absolute, and the club also cherished him, so even if he threw it like this, he constantly gave him a chance to try for the selection, but the American club Since there is no such thing, Fujinami himself seems to be important to catch his own ball in the next opportunity.[21]

On the 15th, he made his third start against the Mets and pitched 6 innings, 92 pitches, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, and 5K, but he was unable to receive support from other lines and recorded 3 losses. Even though they lost, Auckland showed some of what Fujinami hoped for that day. In fact, even during my time in Japan, there were occasional days when I showed the class of the past, so I was constantly given the opportunity to start even with low grades, and I couldn't maintain that high point because of the ups and downs, so I went back and forth in the bullpen...

In the game against Texas on the 22nd, he was destroyed with 7 hits, 3 walks and 8 runs in 2⅓ innings, and was eventually demoted to the bullpen after this game.

His first appearance after being demoted to the bullpen was against the Angels on the 26th. He made his first appearance as a bullpen with 2 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 3K, and 1 run (no earned runs). It was a bonus to have a second confrontation with Ohtani. This time, Ohtani got a hit. The coach evaluated it as a pretty good pitch.

After that, on the 28th, he pitched against the Cincinnati Reds, 1 inning, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1K and 3 walks, especially the walk, which was the worst pitching with 3 consecutive walks and was beaten. His next appearance was 2K scoreless in 1 inning against the Seattle Mariners on May 2nd. He turned it into a three-way offense with just 10 pitches. The highest speed of the day is 100 mph, and the low point is no joke, but the high point is no joke either. It is a roller coaster itself.

On May 5, against the Royals, he again got 1 out, gave 3 walks, and scored 3 earned runs with a ball he couldn't control at all. There were no walks on this day, but I was just beaten. He finished the Kansas City expedition with the worst record of 1⅔ innings and 6 runs.

In the game against the Yankees on May 10th, he pitched in a 9-run situation and was defeated, so 2 ⅓ innings and 2K scoreless.

Meanwhile, in Japan, there are already articles saying that Fujinami is in danger of being released due to his poor performance, but most of the articles are at the level of blatant tampering. Articles are pouring in that make it clear that they were written with money from the Yomiuri Shimbun, with all of them saying that even if you go back to Hanshin, there is no place for you and that if you come to Kyojin, you can take control . The part where you can see how much she is drooling over Fujinami in Kyojin, who is wandering around her B class due to the collapse of the pitching staff. However, Yomiuri's bullpen is collapsing in 2023, and the bullpen is being strengthened little by little through trades, etc., so Yomiuri fans are also dissuading the team, saying that if Fujinami comes in, the situation will get worse.

On May 12, against Texas, he finally won his first major debut victory. In a home game against Texas, he pitched in relief with one out in the 10th inning, walking 1, striking out 1, and then hit a walk-off home run to become the winning pitcher. After the game, he was showered with beer in the locker room for the first time in his life by his teammates.[22]

On May 16, he took the mound in the 6th inning and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 1⅓ innings, but the team won at the end of the 12th inning.

In the ninth inning on May 17, he eventually became a losing pitcher with 1 hit, 2 runs and 2 walks in ⅔ innings. It's a bonus that I still can't control myself. As such, except for the relief mound victory on May 12, he is already accumulating 5 losses.

He took the mound in the 7th inning on May 22nd and safely blocked the 7th inning with 2 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts in 2 innings, but in the 8th inning, he caught fire, clearly showing the reality that he could not use anything other than handling the defeat .

After resting on the 4th, on the 27th, he pitched in the 9th inning with a 3-point difference against home Houston, but was blocked with 11 pitches and 3 strikeouts in 1 inning. It is the first scoreless game since the game against Texas on the 12th. In this game, he recorded 100.9 miles (about 162 km / h), breaking the highest speed since advancing to the major leagues.

In the game on the 30th, he blocked ⅓ innings in a tie with 2 outs in the 9th inning, but won a come-from-behind victory and won his 2nd win. With these two wins, he became the joint most victorious pitcher in the team.

On June 2, he took the mound at the beginning of the first inning with an opener and blocked one inning, but did not disappoint everyone's expectations and recorded two hits and two runs. Hogan Harris then blocked 5 innings and Harris also gave up 2 runs, but Fujinami came up first with the opener and scored 2 runs, making Fujinami the losing pitcher. With this, we achieved our 6th loss of the season.

In the game against Pittsburgh on June 5th, he came on the mound with the bases loaded and gave up two pushes and an error. He pitched 1⅔ innings without a pitch. His highest speed on this day was 102.1 miles, or about 164 km, which is the highest speed in his baseball life.[23] After resting for 4 days, he took the mound against Milwaukee on the 10th with the score tied in the 9th inning and pitched 1 inning without allowing a run, but ended up becoming the winning pitcher again. As such, he achieved 3 wins this season using the bullpen, rising to first place in the team with the most wins.

Afterwards, on the 13th against Tampa Bay, he blocked 1 scoreless inning with an opener pitch, and the average ERA went down to the early 10s, but on the 18th he pitched in the 7th inning against Philadelphia and 1 1/3 innings, 2 hits and 1 run.

In the match against Cleveland on the 20th, he came up as a relay pitcher with two outs at the end of the 8th inning and blocked it with no hits and one strikeout in 1⅓ innings. However, he took the mound as an opener against Toronto on the 24th, but was knocked out without even filling the first inning with 4 hits and 2 runs. After the opener, the team never turned around and achieved 7 losses in the season.

On the 28th, he took the mound in the 5th inning against the New York Yankees and committed accounting fraud with 3 hits and 3 runs in 2 innings , and the team was helplessly defeated 0-11. For reference, on this day, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Hermann achieved a perfect major league game for the first time in 11 years since 2012 .

As of early July, he still boasts a terrible ERA of over 9 points. However, thanks to his tremendous luck, he has won as many as 5 wins and has become the team's most victorious champion. He finished the ninth pitching scoreless and finished the first half with a 9.00.

The first half result was 9.00 5 wins 7 losses in 31 matches and 45 innings. It was a losing group, but Oakland lost as if it were a meal, so it came out more than the winning group, and filled 30 games in the first half alone, and the number of games played was second only to Sam Moll , innings ranked first among team bullpen pitchers, and vomited the spirit of winning first place in the team. Anyway, almost every time he comes out, he throws a ball over 100 miles and seduces the coaching staff, and at the end of the first half, his pitching content rapidly improved, lowering his double-digit ERA to 9.00 with no runs in six consecutive games, and finishing the first half, it seems that he will give him a chance in the second half.

On July 19, he was transferred to Baltimore through a 1-to-1 trade with prospect Easton Lucas . Since June, Fujinami's performance has improved greatly, to the point where he has recorded no runs in 10 games and an ERA of around 2 points, but Oakland, which is overwhelmingly last in the district and has no regrets about the impending battle with half a year left, and Baltimore, a winnow team that is currently ranked first in the district, The result of the alignment of interests. Fujinami himself has a big opportunity, but he will have to work harder because if he performs poorly like he did at the beginning of the season in Baltimore, which is in a fierce battle for rankings, his position will be lost immediately.

On July 21, he made his first appearance in a Baltimore uniform in the 7th inning when the team was losing 2-0 to Tampa Bay, but he hit a home run on the first pitch by Jose Siri . After that, he blocked 3 batters well, allowing 1 home run, 1 run, and 1 K in 1 inning. In the game against Tampa Bay on July 22, he appeared in an important situation in the bottom of the 8th inning with a 5:3 lead, but showed bad form again, including 2 walks and a wild pitch, allowing 2 runs and recording a blown save. He was unable to finish the inning and was grounded.

After that, July ended on a good note with three consecutive games without giving up a goal. His performance in July was almost like that of someone else, with an ERA of 2.93 in 15⅓ innings. His ERA is already approaching 7 points.

On August 3, he came up to 1st and 2nd base with 2 outs against 1:1 in the 5th inning, and gave 3 runs due to a walk-four pitch-four pitch-shortstop error, which became the cause of the defeat. On August 5, he appeared at 3:10 ahead of the 9th inning and recorded one scoreless inning, catching all batters except for one double. With this game, he lowered his earned run average to 7 points.

On August 6th, he made a relief appearance in the 8th inning against the Mets and ended the inning with a 3-way error. On this day, he recorded 102.6 mph, which translates to 165.1 km/h, breaking the record for the highest velocity by an Asian pitcher of all time . He is going to Baltimore, a team that is good at developing bullpen pitchers, and it seems he is somehow adjusting to the major leagues as a bullpen pitcher. However, there are still concerns about ball control, making it difficult for him to establish himself as an S-level closer like Josh Hader or Edwin Diaz in the major leagues. Considering Fujinami's expectations, his goal would be at least a starting pitcher or S-level closer.[24]

On August 9th, I thought he was doing well consistently, but after 2 outs, he suddenly walked excessively and went down with the bases loaded. All of these runners came home and he destroyed himself by allowing 3 runs and 3 walks in ⅔ innings. With this game, the average earned run average rose back to 8 points.

On August 13, he came up with a two-run lead in the bottom of the 10th inning and caught all three batters except for one wild pitch, earning his first major league save.

On August 15th, he came up in a situation where he was heavily behind and recorded one inning of no runs.

On August 16th, he came down after allowing a home run with 2 outs and runners on base, and the runner came home, allowing 2 runs in ⅔ innings.

On August 19, he allowed one home run and one run in one inning.

On August 20th, he went into the 9th inning with a 7:2 lead and allowed 1 hit and no runs in 1 inning.

On August 23rd, he went up in the 9th inning with a 7:0 lead and allowed 3K no runs in 1 inning.

On August 25th, he pitched two scoreless innings and earned his sixth win of the season with a relief win. His ERA was 7.60, dropping to mid-7 points before he knew it.

On September 5th, he took the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Angels and earned his second save with 2K scoreless runs on 9 balls. Since August, the pace has dropped a bit and the bullpen is not the best it was in July, but it is still cruising to some extent and it is clearly working as a bullpen as predicted before advance. Before he knew it, he had pitched in 50 games and pitched over 70 innings, and was looking to pitch in 60 games of the season.

On September 6th, he pitched against the Angels and gave up 1K and no runs in 1 inning. On this day, he recorded 78 Ks, his batting average was exactly 2.00, and his ERA has now dropped to the low 7s and is about to enter the 6s.

Even in Japan, it was top-notch as a relief pitcher, but Fujinami himself had a lot of regrets about starting, and the team felt it was a waste to use a pitcher who was an ace starting pitcher as a bullpen for a local boy star like Fujinami in the first round, so he went back and forth between starting and bullpen several times during the season. For several years now, he has been showing ambiguous results and ruining the season, but in America, where there are no such interests, they are just coolly putting him in the bullpen full-time, and he is getting good results.

On September 9th, he took the mound against Boston with a 7-6 lead and recorded 1⅔ innings of scoreless innings, and became the winning pitcher as all other pitchers performed poorly. 7th win of the season.

In the game against the Cardinals on the 13th, he recorded one inning of no runs and entered the 6-point ERA.

On the 17th, after going down after ⅔ innings against Tampa Bay, the follow-up pitcher blocked the runs and recorded ⅔ innings of scoreless innings. With this victory, Baltimore confirmed its first postseason appearance in seven years.

On the 18th, against Houston, he gave up 3 hits and 3 runs in ⅓ innings. The team won with a three-run comeback in the 9th inning.

On the 20th, he was dismissed after 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd bases, and allowed 1 run in ⅓ innings.

On the 23rd, he pitched ⅔ innings without allowing any runs.

On the 29th, he came out for the first time in a while and allowed 1 run in 1 inning. He made 2nd and 3rd bases with no outs and showed off a bizarre pitch that he blocked.

The performance in September was somewhat disappointing, and the earned run average, which had dropped to the 6-point range, was raised back to the 7-point range.

On October 1, he allowed one scoreless inning in the final game of the regular season.

Excluded from postseason entry. He said he fell down the stairs on a rest day after the season and injured his face and right hand. Afterwards, he was spotted watching a post-season game with a large bandage on his chin.

Afterwards, Baltimore was swept by Texas, and Fujinami's 2023 season ended somewhat in vain.

Final performance for the season was 7 wins, 8 losses, 5 holds, 2 saves, ERA 7.18, and 83 strikeouts in 79 innings. For reference, his bWAR was a whopping -2.1, putting him in 1622nd place, or last place, among the 1622 players who played in the Major League in 2023 .[25] Nevertheless, with 5 wins in Auckland , he ranked first in most wins among the 2023 Auckland team. Although Fujinami's winning fortune was particularly good, this part shows how much Auckland has suffered.

On the one hand, his former team, the Hanshin Tigers , broke the ghostly Kernel Sanders curse in 2023 when Fujinami advanced to the major leagues and won the 2023 Japan Series .

Since it was a one-year contract, he became a free agent at the end of the season, but his performance was disastrous due to poor performance in Oakland. However, after moving to Baltimore, he regained some control and found stability, and was a one-year player among teams with poor bullpens.[26] It appears that a contract will be signed.

On February 2, 2024, he signed a one-year contract worth $3.35 million with the Mets.

A week before the season opened, he was notified of his transfer to the minor leagues and failed to make the opening day roster.

During March and April, he completely collapsed in Triple A, recording an ERA of 15.88. In particular, he gave up 13 walks in 5⅔ innings, falling to the level of Steve Dalkowski .

Meanwhile, he was suddenly called up to the major leagues on May 13, but was placed on the 60-day injured list without appearing in a single game. Because he complained of a shoulder injury, he was registered on the roster to cover his hospital expenses at the major club's expense. Still, as if it wasn't a serious injury that required surgery, he only rested and rehabilitated, and then started bullpen pitching in July and started throwing pitches in the low 150s again.

He had a rehabilitation appearance in Double-A, and passed with a perfect 5K and 2 innings in 2 games. However, after returning to Triple-A, he continued his poor performance with an ERA of 5.79 in 5 games.

He was DFA'd on July 27th. He passed waivers on July 30th and will remain on the team for the time being.

The speed is overwhelmingly fast, around 100 mph, so he is not being kicked out of AA.

In the end, he finished the season without a major appearance and was not included in the postseason roster.