Shintaro Fujinami, who was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, has exposed a nagging problem. It may have been a one-game slump, but it was certainly reminiscent of his early-season nightmare.
Fujinami struggled against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, on 23 July (ET), allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks with one strikeout in ⅔ of an inning.온라인카지노
Fujinami, who signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract with the Oakland Athletics prior to the season, raised expectations by going 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five exhibition games. However, once the regular season began, Fujinami struggled mightily, posting a 14.40 ERA in four starts, all of which resulted in losses. Oakland tried to unlock his potential by changing his position, but it didn’t work.
It wasn’t until June that Fujinami finally started to look good. With a 1-2 record and a 3.97 ERA in 10 games, Fujinami finally started to live up to expectations, and the good form continued into July. The “rebound” came in the form of an improvement in his fastball, which had been holding him back. The result was a move to the Baltimore Orioles, who are looking to make the postseason and win the American League East.
Fujinami took the mound for the first time in a Baltimore uniform on the 22nd, and despite giving up a solo home run to the first batter he faced, he had a successful debut, cooking the subsequent batters with a fastball that topped out at 101.5 mph (about 163.4 km/h). After the game, manager Brandon Hyde exclaimed, “Wow!” and gave Fujinami a thumbs-up for the content of his pitches.
On this day, however, the pitching was a disappointment. Fujinami took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning with Baltimore leading 5-3 and nearly blew the game. After giving up a leadoff walk to Manual Mago, Fujinami gave up back-to-back wild pitches to Yandy Diaz to put runners on first and second.
The worst was yet to come. Unable to get out of the jam, Fujinami faced Wander Franco and a splitter he threw to the next batter turned into a wild pitch, advancing the runners by one base. Fujinami was able to induce a grounder to Franco at second base, but was unable to prevent the runner from scoring from third. A wild pitch turned runners on first and second into runners on second and third.
After giving up the run without facing a hit, Fujinami appeared to get a breather by striking out the next batter, Harold Ramirez, but gave up the tying run when he was hit by a four-pitch 101.1 mph (162.7 km/h) four-seam fastball to Randa Arozarena. Their patience finally wearing thin, the Orioles made a pitching change, and after an inning of no further runs, they scored a run to regain the lead in the top of the ninth to win 6-5 and move into first place in the American League East.
According to Japan’s Junichi Sports, manager Brandon Hyde said after the game on the 23rd, “Yesterday (the 22nd), Fujinami was too good, so today I put him in that situation (the eighth inning with a 5-3 lead). He had some bad pitches against the first two batters, but I was really impressed with his rebound pitches. I got a grounder and a strikeout, and I was throwing close to 102 mph.” “He’s got a great ball. He’s going to be a big-time power pitcher.”
The Orioles, who were in contention for a postseason berth down the stretch last year as their prospects exploded with potential, are having their best season yet this year. They acquired Fujinami via trade in order to challenge for the American League East title. Clearly, Fujinami was on a roll before the trade, but his two games since then have been reminiscent of his worst slump of the season.
Ultimately, Fujinami’s problem is his fastball. Again, he threw 23 pitches for strikes while only throwing nine for strikes. It’s obviously too early to judge everything yet. But based on his first two pitches, it’s possible that he could be on the wrong track.
