A’s Shintaro Fujinami moves in for relief

Athletics moves with the right hand Shintaro Fujinami From rotation to a relief role, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters ahead of tonight’s game against the Angels (Narrated by Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Kotsai left open the possibility of an eventual return to the starting team but suggested that the club would first “assess” Fujinami on shorter terms.

Oakland signed Fujinami to a one-year, $3 million deal over the winter. It was one of the more interesting low cost dice rolls in the off season. Fujinami has shown excellent arm speed and high quality at times in his career in Japan. This was often paired with such huge walk totals that his NPB club, the Hanshin Tigers, frequently moved him between the senior roster and minor league club.

The A’s gave Fujinami a crack at the rotational job to bring him to Oakland. The 6’6 pitcher issued 17 walks in 18 2/3 innings in spring training, yet the A’s stuck to the plan to keep him on the staff on Opening Day. Fujinami has taken four catches into the rotation but has not had any success yet. He allowed 24 runs in just 15 innings, walking 12 batters and giving up 19 hits. Fujinami only got past the fifth inning once and took forfeits in all four games.

It’s clearly not how the team nor the 29-year-old envisioned his first few weeks in the majors. They will hope to achieve better results in short spells, which is where Fujinami’s power arsenal can be most effective. He averaged just under 97 mph on his speedball and had a decent number of hit swings on both the splitter and slider. It released a lot of walks and gave up a lot of hard friction out of turns.

A has lost a member of the relief corps to injury, as a good Adrian Martinez He landed on the 15-day injured list with a strain on his elbow. Kotsay told the repairmen that Martínez underwent an MRI and was suspended from pitching for the next few days while the club awaited the results of the scan (Gallegos link). A more definite schedule will depend on the MRI, but it seems more likely than 2 weeks out.

Fujinami and its recent business acquisition Sam Long The ability to work offers several roles in relief. Meanwhile, it looks like another off-season pickup truck — KBO Drew Rosinski – It can take the vacated turntable place. Rucinski was at IL all season with a hamstring problem. He’s now made three starts in rehab with Triple-A Las Vegas, and hit five home runs and 72 pitches yesterday. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he was reinstated to make his debut later this week.