Baseball: Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami to be posted for MLB move

Major League Baseball has accepted the Hanshin Tigers’ request to assign right-handed pitcher Shintaro Fujinami, the Japanese club announced Thursday.

Fujinami, who rivaled star Shohei Ohtani when they were in high school, will have until January 14 at 5 p.m. pay transfer fees.

The photo provided shows Shintaro Fujinami. (Essonne News)

The 28-year-old is 57-54 career wins and losses with a 3.41 ERA in 189 games over 10 seasons, all with the Tigers. In 2022, he went 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 appearances, including 10 starts.

« I have mixed feelings of excitement and some anxiety, » Fujinami, who is 197 centimeters tall, told the Central League club.

In his first three seasons from 2013, Fujinami won 10, 11 and 14 games, respectively, before a couple of barren years where he struggled to find the strike zone.

Hanshin plans to sign Fujinami for next season if he can’t reach an agreement with an MLB club.