Orioles acquire right-handed reliever Shintaro Fujinami from Athletics for minor leaguer – The Denver Post

The Orioles are adding to their bullpen.

Baltimore on Wednesday acquired right-handed reliever Shintaro Fujinami from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Triple-A left-hander Easton Lucas, the team announced early in the evening.

Fujinami, 29, is 5-8 with an 8.57 ERA in his first major league season after signing a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Athletics this past offseason out of Japan.

He features a fastball that can reach triple digits, but command has been a concern throughout his professional career.

Fujinami struggled mightily as a starter to begin the season, but the 6-foot-6 pitcher has been excellent out of the bullpen the past two months. In 18 1/3 innings since June 5, he has a 2.45 ERA and 19 strikeouts compared with six walks.

Lucas, 26, has a 2.73 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk this season. He dominated with the Baysox to strike out 38.7% of opposing hitters before his promotion to Norfolk, where he’s allowed six runs in 12 2/3 innings. The Orioles acquired Lucas in December 2019 from the Miami Marlins for infielder Jonathan Villar.

To make room for Fujinami on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, the Orioles designated corner infielder-outfielder Josh Lester for assignment. Lester went 4-for-22 in a short stint in the majors this season and hit .273 with an .830 OPS in Triple-A.

More than a decade ago, Fujinami was one of the top young players in Japan alongside another wunderkind: Shohei Ohtani. Fujinami and Ohtani, the two-way star now with the Los Angeles Angels, first played against each other as high schoolers in 2012. They played together on Japan’s youth national team and were selected in the same Nippon Professional Baseball draft.

As Ohtani pursued the two-way path, Fujinami had more success early in his NPB career than the future 2021 American League Most Valuable Player. However, as Fujinami’s career progressed, his control and consistency worsened, while Ohtani became a national sensation, signing with the Angels and becoming the best player in the world.

In December, NPB’s Hanshin Tigers posted Fujinami, allowing major league teams to sign him to a contract. Fujinami, who is a free agent after this season, opened the year in Oakland’s rotation despite struggling during spring training. In four starts with the lowly Athletics, he went 0-4 and allowed 19 hits and 12 walks in 15 innings. He was moved to a relief role and has posted a 6.03 ERA in 34 1/3 innings since. Over the past six weeks, he’s walked just 8.2% of batters while striking out 26%.

With an average four-seam fastball velocity of 98.0 mph, Fujinami will be the second-hardest-throwing pitcher in the Orioles’ bullpen behind closer Félix Bautista and his 99.1 mph heater. Similar to Bautista, Fujinami also sports a splitter as his main secondary pitch, although the latter’s is about 4 mph harder than the former’s. Fujinami also throws a cutter and a sweeper, but he’s mostly relied on his four-seamer and splitter during his recent success.

The trade is the Orioles’ first for a major leaguer during the 2023 regular season. They acquired left-hander Danny Coulombe from the Minnesota Twins on the final day of spring training and left-hander Cole Irvin from the Athletics in January. Coulombe, 33, has been the Orioles’ third-best reliever this season — behind setup man Yennier Cano and Bautista — with a 2.70 ERA. Irvin has split the season between Norfolk and Baltimore; he’s now the Orioles’ long reliever and has a 5.40 ERA.

The move for Fujinami comes a little under two weeks before MLB’s trade deadline on Aug. 1. Bullpen help was seen as the Orioles’ most obvious need, as their middle relief has shown cracks in recent weeks. Each of their past four losses — two versus the Los Angeles Dodgers this week and two against the New York Yankees before the All-Star break — featured at least one middle reliever struggling. However, while Fujinami could certainly bolster Baltimore’s bullpen, especially if he pitches the way he has recently, he wasn’t considered one of the top relievers on the market.

Baltimore has four relievers on the injured list — left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Austin Voth, right-hander Mychal Givens and right-hander Dillon Tate. Tate has yet to pitch in the majors this season, while Givens has tossed just four ineffective innings. Neither is expected back before the trade deadline. Akin and Voth both struggled in middle/long relief roles with the Orioles before their injuries.

Given the number of relievers on the shelf and the importance of a lockdown bullpen in a playoff race, it’s still possible the Orioles acquire another reliever before the deadline.

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