“Isn’t there a club to recruit?”

Shintaro Fujinami signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics through the posting system prior to this season and entered the major leagues of his dreams. succeded. And in 5 demonstration games, he went 3-0 with an average ERA of 3.86 and took a place in the starting rotation. However, the difference between the time of the demonstration game and the current position is the difference between heaven and earth.

In his debut match against the Los Angeles Angels, Fujinami had the worst start with 5 hits, 3 walks and 8 runs in 2⅓ innings. And in the game against the Tampa Bay Rays, it collapsed with 5 runs in 4⅓ innings. Fujinami scored 3 runs in 6 innings, the best since entering the big league against the New York Mets on the 16th (hereinafter Korean time), but plunged again on the 23rd with 8 runs in 2⅓ innings against the Texas Rangers.

After finishing his fourth appearance of the season on the 23rd, criticism and accusations toward Fujinami were rampant. Oakland coach Mark Katsay pointed out, “I don’t have confidence in the fastball. I relied on a splitter who could catch a strike, but the opposing team has many good players. It doesn’t work at the major league level.” Worst pitcher.”

And Alex Ramirez, who served as the Yokohama DeNA Baystars’ command tower after playing 13 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, where Lee Seung-yeop worked together, also pointed out that he was “not ready to pitch in the major leagues yet.”

After the worst start, Fujinami’s position has undergone a major change. She just got out of her starting lineup. Alex Ramirez shared his thoughts on social media that “Oakland’s best thing is to use Fujinami as a relief pitcher.” Coach Katsei said on the 25th, “Fujinami goes to the bullpen. You can find where he throws strikes.” I think there will be. Please bring back the direct ball.”

He struggled for several years before signing a contract with Oakland, and while Fujinami continues to struggle even after stepping on the major league stage, talk of ‘Ips’ is emerging. The Japanese magazine ‘Daily Creed’ reported on Fujinami’s Ips on the 24th.

Fujinami was evaluated as a player with outstanding talent enough to be called a rival of Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) in high school, and since joining the team, he has been active as the ‘ace’ of the Hanshin Tigers, harvesting double-digit wins for three consecutive seasons. His command wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t as absurd as it is now. ‘Daily Creed’ cited the July 8, 2016 match as the starting point for Ips.

At that time, Fujinami recorded 8 runs (6 earned) with 7 hits, 6 walks, 13 strikeouts in 8 innings against Hiroshima Toyo Carp. ‘Daily Shinzo’ explained, “Fujinami’s Ips opportunity was against Hiroshima during Hanshin days.”토토사이트

The 2016 season is Fujinami’s fourth year at Hanshin. Fujinami, who had a double-digit win until the 2015 season, did not record 10 wins even once from the 2017 to the 2022 season. When Fujinami suffered serious sluggishness from the 2018 season, the story of ‘Ips’ used to flow. However, Fujinami did not acknowledge this at the time, and it was just a ‘suspicion’ floating around among Japanese baseball officials, but Ips is being discussed again.

According to ‘Daily Creed’, the manager of an anonymous professional club said, “In Japan, Fujinami’s dead ball almost caused a scuffle. A similar situation is happening in the major leagues. ) as expected,

Next, a former Major League scout said, “With this control, you can’t even use it as a bullpen. Even if you are released, there will be no clubs that want to recruit you.” An official from a Central League team also said, “Hanshin’s pitching staff is so strong that Fujinami has no place. It will be difficult. It will be difficult for any team to recruit,” he predicted, not only remaining in the major leagues but also returning to Japan if Fujinami is released from Oakland.