Mariners take chance on erratic free agent reliever with one devilish pitch

If the Seattle Mariners need to reinforce their bullpen like they did in 2024, they might have found their Rick Vaughn in an under-the-radar Japanese pitcher. Though the wounds are still raw from the Roki Sasaki news, hear us out.

On Friday, Jon Morosi announced that Shintaro Fujinami agreed to a minor-league contract with the Mariners.

Before signing with the Oakland Athletics, Fujinami was a rising star with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hanshin Tigers in Japan, where he made three consecutive NPB All-Star games from 2013-2015. The 2015 campaign was a special one for Fujinami, as he led NPB with 221 strikeouts. With a fastball sitting in the mid-90s that could top 100 mph, Fujinami was so highly regarded that he was considered “a top rival” to Shohei Ohtani.

Fujinami’s downside was his lack of control, where he issued 4.2 walks per nine innings in 10 seasons with Hanshin. At the end of the 2022 season, the club posted Fujinami, who signed a free-agent contract with the Oakland Athletics in January 2023.

Fujinami’s tenure with the A’s was, shall we say, an adventure. In his first career MLB start against the Los Angeles Angels, Fujinami gave up five hits and eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 13-1 loss. That game was the first of four consecutive poor outings for Fujinami, where he finished with an 0-4 record and a 14.40 ERA before being sent to the bullpen.

That trip to the bullpen turned things around for Fujinami, who held a 3.32 ERA in his last 21 2/3 innings before a July trade to the Baltimore Orioles. While in Baltimore, Fujinami finished with a 4.85 ERA in 30 games pitched and lowered his walks per nine innings from 5.5 in Oakland to 4.6.

Last year, Fujinami signed with the Mets with the expectation that he would be a reliever. Unfortunately, the Japanese right-hander dealt with shoulder injuries throughout the season and never appeared in an MLB game as he rehabbed in the minor leagues.

The Mariners have a history under Jerry Dipoto of finding pitching diamonds in the rough and turning them into effective bullpen arms. Fujinami’s fastball is a powerful weapon out of the bullpen if he can control it. If he can do that and stay healthy, he can form a nasty three-headed monster with Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash.