Otani High School Rival’ Fujinami Agrees to One-Year Contract with MLB Mets
Shintaro Fujinami (29), a Japanese right-handed pitcher, continues his challenge for the Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Mets. 온라인카지노
American media such as MLB.com reported on the 3rd (Korean time) that Fujinami had agreed to a one-year contract with the Mets with a guaranteed annual salary of $3.35 million and an option of $850,000.
Fujinami is famous for his high school rivalry with ‘superstar’ Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers).
He played as a ‘one-two punch’ for the Japanese youth national team with Ohtani, and they entered the Japanese professional baseball league together and competed in good faith.
The gap between the two soon widened, but Shintaro Fujinami also achieved his dream of advancing to the big leagues by joining the Oakland Athletics through the posting system last year.
He did not achieve satisfactory results in his first year of debut in the big league.
Appeared in 64 games and performed poorly with 7 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 7.18.
He was also traded to the Baltimore Orioles mid-season.
The first person to introduce the ‘spicy taste’ of the big leagues was his rival Otani.
Fujinami started in a home game against the Los Angeles Angels on April 2 last year, his MLB debut, and gave up 2 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 RBIs, and 1 run to Shohei Ohtani, who was the Angels’ key pitcher, in the 3rd inning.
Shintaro Fujinami has since moved between starting and bullpen positions, showing ups and downs.
Fujinami didn’t put up impressive numbers, but MLB teams evaluated him as a pitcher worth using.
MLB.com explained, “Fujinami showed competitiveness by using fast balls.”