It’s no surprise that Orioles general manager Mike Elias has pulled off a trade to aid his ailing bullpen. What is a bit of a shocker, until you dive into the stats, is that the O’s targeted a fairly obscure right-handed pitcher who has toiled in front of scant home crowds in Oakland in 2023.
Shintaro Fujinami’s career started back in his native Japan, where he was a high school rival of Shohei Ohtani. And after a 10-year pro career in Japan, Fujinami was signed this past offseason by the budget-conscious Athletics to a one-year, $3.25 pact.
During the offseason, the A’s put together one of the worst starting rotations I have ever seen with Drew Rucinski (four starts, 9.00 ERA), Kyle Muller (11 starts, 7.79 ERA), James Kaprielian (11 starts and three relief appearances, 6.34 ERA) and Ken Waldichuk (13 starts and 10 relief appearances, 6.75 ERA). Fujinami seemingly fit in nicely with this group with an ERA of 8.57 in seven starts and 27 relief appearances.
So, what in the world is Elias thinking? Well, I am thinking he has smartly observed that there are two realities for pitchers that have high-octane gas (100+ mph fastballs). In one reality, you keep throwing them out there as a starting pitcher and you get the definition of insanity. In the other reality, you look at what a pitcher with such a dynamic repertoire – a bullet-like fastball, a splitter and a high-80’s cut fastball — does in shorter bursts.
It’s not altogether unlike what the Orioles ultimately saw a couple summers ago in Jorge López. Over time, the O’s gradually traded away relievers Richard Bleier, Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser. The more they traded away the other guys capable of getting saves, the more López fit like a glove into the role of stopper, until he had built up his value enough for Elias to get value for him in the form of four minor-league pitchers from the Twins, including Yennier Cano and left-handed starter Cade Povich.
Fujinami will not be closing games here. The 29-year-old will simply be a pitcher with the upside to be much, much better than Bryan Baker, Michael Baumann and Cionel Perez. To understand the upside, let’s dive a little deeper into some of Fujinami’s stats this season. Fujinami clearly struggled as a starter, allowing 26 hits (including four home runs) and 12 walks while striking out 14 batters in 17.2 innings pitched with an ERA 14.26 and a WHIP of 2.15. As he was converted to be a bullpen arm, perhaps because they still started him a few more times as an opener, his stats overall still look ugly with 26 hits and 18 walks in 31.2 innings pitched, but his ERA dropped to 5.40 with a much better whip of 1.39. He also struck out 37 batters and allowed just two home runs in his 27 relief appearances.
As they used him exclusively out of the pen, his numbers were even better — in 16 innings pitched during 14 relief appearances, Fujinami allowed just 10 hits and six walks. He struck out 18 batters and allowed just three earned runs. That’s a 1.68 ERA and a whip of 1.00. Also of note is the fact that he allowed just one home run in those last 16 innings pitched.
While I applaud Elias for thinking outside of the box here and getting a real potential value in exchange for 26-year-old left-handed pitcher Easton Lucas, who was still buried in the Orioles farm system, one has to wonder why they aren’t able to see that this is what they needed to do with the lethal arm of left-handed pitcher DL Hall.
This Fujinami move is a start to making some important changes that may make the difference of whether or not the Orioles can really challenge for a World Series. But my bet is Elias knows this is step one, and he needs another one or two more trustworthy arms as the bridges to Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista.