Oakland Athletics New Pitcher Impresses During First Bullpen Session

He was impressive.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Shintaro Fujinami threw a 40-pitch bullpen session on Thursday.

Fujinami showed off all six of his pitches during his first session, featuring a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, cutter, slider, splitter and curveball.

"He's got different variations of multiple pitches," the catcher said. "The big splitter was nasty."

Shintaro Fujinami, off in the distance, throws his first bullpen session of camp (this is as close as media can get today): pic.twitter.com/e7ur6WvguW
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) February 16, 2023

Fujinami reportedly topped out at 97 MPH.

The twenty-eight-year-old signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal last month with the A's and will be in the club's starting rotation this season.

Fujinami spent the past 10 seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers. There is a bit of uncertainty regarding how he will fare in the MLB, seeing as he didn't exactly dominate NPB competition.

His control is something he's struggled with and will be worth keeping an eye on.

The Hanshin Tigers have officially posted 28-year-old Shintaro Fujinami.

Had a 2.77 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 115 strikeouts in 107 innings this season (1st team/farm team combined).

Features fastball up to 100 mph, slider, and splitter.

pic.twitter.com/QvfVE6YYQb
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) December 1, 2022