Shintaro Fujinami (29, Oakland Athletics) maintained a sense of stability by pitching no walks in 10 consecutive games.
On the 17th (Korean time)안전놀이터, Fujinami pitched in relief against the Minnesota Twins of the US Major League (MLB) held at Ring Central Coliseum in the US and recorded no hits, no walks, and no runs in 1 2/3 innings. Out of 15 pitches, 11 were strikes.
In the top of the 7th inning, trailing by 3-5, Fujinami, who made a relief mound with 1 out on 1st and 3rd base, used a splitter at 150km/h on the first batter, Donavan Solano, and blocked it with a double hit by the shortstop. In the eighth, he struck out Byron Buxton on the seventh pitch with a four-seam fastball at 161.3 km/h. Then Kyle Palmer in the 4th left field ball and Willie Castro in the 5th caught a grounder in the infield and completed the mission that day.
On this day, Fujinami did not allow a single on-base against the opponent’s 2nd to 5th center batting line and blocked it well. The top speed of his four-seam fastball that day was 162 km/h.
Fujinami is gradually increasing his ability to adapt to the big leagues.
Fujinami, who once formed a rivalry with Shohei Otani (LA Angels), who was the same age as his motive for joining Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), signed a short-term contract worth 3 million dollars (3.8 billion won) for one year last winter. He was interested in what he would show even if he fulfilled his dream of entering the big leagues. However, he faltered in exhibition games, allowing 17 walks in 18 2/3 innings. The opening position was a starter, but it was eventually pushed to the bullpen due to a lack of pitches. From the opening until May, his earned run average reached a whopping 12.00. He wondered how to survive in the big leagues.
However, his earned run average significantly lowered to 3.97 in June. It is through control stability. From the start to May, there were 25 four-balls in 30 innings, but in June, it decreased to 6 in 11 1/3 innings.
In particular, starting with the match against the Cleveland Guardians on June 21st, the last 10 consecutive games have been a good fight without a walk. His earned run average for July was 2.57 (2 runs earned in 7 innings) lowered further.