Earlier this year, Shintaro Fujinami faced the Angels as a member of the Oakland Athletics, and it didn’t go well: the big right-hander allowed an unsightly eight runs, helping to close the book on his time as an MLB starter. Last night, Fujinami pitched a scoreless eighth inning against LA, hitting 100 on the radar gun on three straight pitches. The worm, it appears, has turned. From the AL’s worst team, Fujinami has gone to its best, from starter to reliever, and from hapless to . . . kind of nasty?
One of the hard baseball truths illustrated by the Baltimore Orioles this season is that relievers are, if not a dime a dozen, at least easier to dig up and slot in than starters or preternaturally talented left-handed hitting shortstops.