Fujinami conquers wildness, limits damage in start
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shintaro Fujinami alternated some wicked pitches with wildness in his latest Cactus League start on Sunday, while offering more evidence that his stuff will play against MLB hitters.
The Oakland Athletics’ righthander from Japan faced 18 batters in a 6-3 win over the Dodgers. He walked five, struck out four and allowed only one hit, a double by Patrick Mazeika, on his final pitch.
It echoed Fujinami’s previous three outings over this spring. In 102⁄3 innings, Fujinami has allowed six hits, struck out 14 batters and walked 10. The latter number makes for long innings, running up his pitch count. On a roughly 80-pitch limit Sunday, Fujinami completed just 42⁄3 innings.
His command faltered suddenly. Fujinami struck out three of his first four batters, then walked four of the next five. He loaded the bases in the third inning with no outs, then limited the damage to one run with a strikeout and two flyball outs.
Through an interpreter, Fujinami attributed the loss of command to his front side “flying open” in the third and fourth innings. He said that can happen when he “pulls too hard” with his glove toward first base. He tried to adjust Sunday by tucking his left arm closer against his chest during his delivery.
“The good part is the first inning, second inning, I could kind of relax with good mechanics,” Fujinami said. “And the final inning was good.”
Fujinami told A’s staff during his outing he “just felt like he was rushing his front side,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “So he’s aware of what is going on, which is great. The next step is just being able to make that ingame adjustment. But he used his breaking ball, he got back in the zone and he got outs.”
The Dodgers’ lineup featured a number of regulars. Fujinami struck out Freddie Freeman looking on a 96 mph fastball in the first inning and Max Muncy swinging on a breaking ball in the second. Their next times up, Freeman hit a sacrifice fly that Esteury Ruiz chased down in deep center field and Muncy took a walk.
Fujinami demurred when asked about his first encounter with Freeman, the 2020 NL MVP: “He has no data on me,” Fujinami said. “So, just kind of seeing what I have, I guess.”
A few hours before his start, Fujinami was on the field at the A’s stadium playing light catch and running sprints before the drive to Glendale. It’s more than many starters do before pregame warm-ups on days they pitch. But Fujinami said he does that to gauge how his body is moving, “so if I need to make a little tweak before the game, I can be more ready for the game.”
Roster moves: The A’s reassigned catcher Tyler Soderstrom, infielder Zack Gelof, outfielder Denzel Clarke and relievers Rico Garcia and Jake Fishman to their minor-league camp, leaving 36 players in their major-league camp.
The move leaves Kyle McCann as the lone catcher in A’s camp aside from Shea Langeliers and Manny Piña, who will start the season on the injured list.. Drew Steckenrider and Austin Pruitt are the two non-roster relievers still in camp.
Briefly: Drew Rucinski threw five innings in a minor-league game Sunday, the second time this spring he has pitched there in lieu of a Cactus League start. Fujinami and Rucinski were lined up to pitch the same day and the A’s wanted to get their relievers work in the Cactus League game, Kotsay said. … The A’s are off Monday and did not have many veterans travel to Glendale. “It’s an opportunity to give them a couple days,” Kotsay said.