The relief pitching market has been active since Josh Hader signed with the Houston Astros on January 22.
Several bullpen pieces have signed since then: Hector Neris joined the Chicago Cubs, the San Diego Padres inked Wandy Peralta, Keynan Middleton signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, and now the New York Mets are adding a flamethrower to their relief corps.
They signed Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami.
Welcome to New York, Shintaro Fujinami! pic.twitter.com/LL2gk4PMlj
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 2, 2024
Fujinami, who started last season with the Oakland Athletics and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, didn’t have a particularly great MLB debut last year.
He posted a 7.18 ERA in 79 innings between the two teams.
However, his was a tale of two seasons.
With the A’s, one of the most dysfunctional franchises in baseball, he posted a horrible 8.57 ERA in 49.1 frames.
Once he got to the O’s, a much more competitive team, he posted a 4.85 ERA in 29.2 frames with 32 strikeouts.
Granted, a 4.85 ERA isn’t good, but the league got a glimpse of his vast potential and his 100-mph heater.
Now, he will land on the Mets, where a new sense of leadership is flourishing under David Stearns.
In a decade with the Milwaukee Brewers, Stearns put together a team capable of developing some of the best pitching in baseball.
The Mets will certainly have the staff to help Fujinami look more like the NPB version of himself, one that posted a 3.41 ERA in 994.1 frames.
He is certainly a low-risk, high-reward gamble for a New York team that is sneakily putting together a team that wants to compete in 2024.
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