Shintaro Fujinami #19

Shintaro Fujinami attended Osaka Toin High School in Osaka, Japan...His first appearance will make him the 15th Japanese-born player to suit up for the Mets, the most of any club... Was selected by four teams (Hanshin, Orix, Yakult, Chiba Lotte) as the first pick of the 2012 NPB Draft out of Osaka Toin High School, a draft that included Shohei Ohtani…Hanshin won the rights to sign him...Made his debut two weeks before his 19th birthday... Pitched for Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

2023

Split his first season in the Major Leagues between Oakland and Baltimore...Posted an 8.57 ERA (47 ER/49.1 IP) in 34 games (seven starts) with Oakland, then went 2-0 with a 4.85 ERA (16 ER/29.2 IP) and two saves over 30 games with Baltimore, exclusively as a reliever...Threw 136 pitches of at least 100 MPH, the ninth-most in the Majors.

2022

Was 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 games, including 10 starts, with Hanshin...Walked just 21 batters in 66.2 innings for an average of 2.8 walks per nine innings, which was the lowest mark of his career…struck out 65 for a career best strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.10...Also pitched in nine games for Hanshin’s minor league affiliate in the Western League and was 4-1 with a 1.77 ERA in nine appearances…struck out 50 and walked just 15 in 40.2 innings...Recorded his 1,000th career strikeout on Sept. 9 against Yokohama.

2021

Compiled a 3-3 record and a 5.21 ERA in 21 games, including six starts, with Hanshin… struck out 52 batters in 48.1 innings but also walked 40 for a career-high mark of 7.4 walks per nine innings…was 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA in eight games with Hanshin’s minor league club…yielded just one home run in 39.1 innings.

2020

Spent most of the season with Hanshin, going 1-6 with a 4.01 ERA in 24 games, including 11 starts…also logged a 3-0 record and a 0.41 ERA in four appearances with Hanshin’s minor league affiliate…did not allow a home run in 22.0 innings.

2019

Made just one start with Hanshin, the fewest appearances of his career…allowed a run on four hits in 4.1 innings but walked six and hit two while striking out three…spent the balance of the season with Hanshin’s affiliate in the Western League and was 3-6 with a 3.84 ERA in 14 games…ranked fifth in the WL in strikeouts (72)…surrendered just two home runs in 75.0 innings.

2018

Was 5-3 with a career-high 5.32 ERA in 13 games, all starts, for Hanshin…walked 47 batters in 71.0 innings, an average of 6.0 per nine innings…also posted a 4-1 record and a 1.14 ERA in 12 games with the Tigers minor league club…yielded just one home run in 63.0 innings.

2017

Was 3-5 with a 4.12 ERA in 11 starts with Hanshin…had more walks (45) than strikeouts (41) and his average of 6.9 walks per nine innings was the highest mark of his career…also went 6-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 15 appearances with Hanshin’s minor league club…tied for fourth in the Western League in wins and ranked fifth in strikeouts (77)…made one appearance for Japan in the World Baseball Classic against China (2.0 ip, 1 bb, 4 so).

2016

Spent the entire season with Hanshin for the second consecutive year and was 7-11 with a 3.25 ERA in 26 starts…the losses were a career high as were his 11 home runs allowed…finished third in the Central League in strikeouts (176), fourth in innings pitched (169.0) and ninth in ERA…also led the league in walks (70), ranked second in most runs (78) and tied for third in losses…tossed 161 pitches in 8.0 innings on July 8 against Hiroshima and allowed eight runs while walking five and striking out 13…made his fourth consecutive appearance in an NPB All-Star Game, picking up the win in relief in Game 1 (2.0 ip, 1 bb, 1 so).

2015

Put together his best season as he went 14-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 28 starts for Hanshin…the ERA was a career-low and he had career-highs in wins, games, game started, complete games (7), shutouts (4), innings pitched (199.0) and strikeouts (221)…also had highs in hits (162), walks (82) and wild pitches (9) and matched his high by hitting 11 batters…led the Central League in strikeouts, complete games and shutouts, tied for second in wins, ranked third in innings and fifth in ERA…also led the CL in walks…finished eighth in CL Most Valuable Player Award voting… had a 32-inning scoreless streak from May 14 to June 3, including his first career shutout on May 20 against Yomiuri…pitched in relief the NPB All-Star Game 1 and retired all nine Pacific League batters he faced to pick up the win…earned MVP honors to become the youngest pitcher to win the honor.

2014

Compiled an 11-8 record and a 3.53 ERA in 25 starts in his second season with Hanshin… had career highs in runs (79) and hit batters (11)…ranked second in the Central League in strikeouts (172) and tied for fifth in wins…also tied for the lead in hit batters…was the starting pitcher in NPB All-Star Game 2 against Shohei Ohtani but allowed four runs in the first inning and took the loss…hit his first of three career home runs on April 15 against Hiroshima…won a playoff game for Hanshin against Yomiuri to become the youngest Central League hurler (20 years, 6 months) with a postseason win…started Game 3 of the Japan Series against Fukuoka and allowed three runs in 5.2 innings for the loss…pitched for Japan against the MLB All-Stars in the 2014 Nichi-Bei Series following the season.

2013

Made his debut with Hanshin and went 10-6 with a 2.75 ERA in 24 games, including 23 starts…ranked ninth in the Central League in strikeouts (126) and tied for 10th in wins…fell just short of qualify for the ERA leaders and would have ranked fourth…finished third in CL Rookie of the Year voting…became the first CL rookie out of high school to win 10 games since Yutaka Enatsu in 1967…was the seventh NPB rookie out of high school to fan 100 batters, the first sine Masahiro Tanaka in 2007…made his debut on March 31 at Yakult and took the loss (6.0 ip, 3 h, 2 r, 1 er, 4 bb, 7 so)…the start came in Hanshin’s third game of the season and he became the first rookie to start a game prior the fourth game of the season…fanned Akinori Iwamura for his first strikeout…his debut came 14 days before his 19th birthday…earned his first win with 6.0 scoreless innings against Yokohama on April 14…pitched in the NPB All-Star Game 1 (2.0 ip, 2 h, 1 so)… was named CL Pitcher of the Month in August after winning four games and posting a 1.07 ERA.