Shintaro Fujinami was looked upon in high regard, as big of a star as the great Shohei Ohtani. In 2023, he split his time between the Oakland A's and the Baltimore Orioles. The first half of the season was very forgettable for Fujinami, as his lack of control of the strike zone became the focal point of his dismissal from the A's which was hard to do to begin with, considering how terrible the A's season was.
At the midpoint of the 2023 season, he improved, sporting a 4.85 ERA for the Orioles. There were times Fujinami looked unstoppable and even had a 1,2,3 inning in his tenure.
Surprisingly, the New York Mets signed Fujinami to a 1-year, $3 million deal. He struggled once again in spring training, forcing the Mets to send him down to Triple-A Syracuse. He sported a 14.09 ERA with 17 walks, and 2 hit batsmen. However, as bad as he did, the Mets called him up to the big league roster, only to send him to the injured list. This is a telling sign that Fujinami's tenure with the Mets organization will be done sooner or later. The move is to maintain a 40-man roster and by placing Shintaro on the 60-day IL, the Mets get to keep that spot reserved for another roster move. He is listed as having a right shoulder strain.
This is not the end of Shintaro Fujinami's career. There's hope that the Mets still use him, but by the way, he has performed so far, even at the minor-league level. It just doesn't look good for him.
But, you never know, there could be something in store for the former NPB all-star.
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