A's Trade Shintaro Fujinami to Baltimore Orioles for Prospect
The A's have traded Shintaro Fujinami to the Baltimore Orioles, in exchange for 26-year-old left-hander Easton Lucas, per the team.
Fujinami, who was signed by the Oakland A's out of Japan last off-season, started the season in the A's rotation and didn't fare terribly well, notching a 14.26 ERA. He joined the rotation after his first four starts, while still acting as the club's opener on occasion. Since joining the bullpen Fuji has a 5.40 ERA with a 1.39 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 31.2 innings.
The Orioles are getting a hard-throwing right-hander that has been turning a corner of late, posting a 2.70 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP over his last 15 games. Part of the key for his turnaround has been limiting walks. In 16.2 innings during that span, Fujinami has walked just four.
Fuji ranks in the 85th percentile in whiff%, and that is how he has to have success, because he also ranks in the fourth percentile in average exit velocity.
In exchange for Fujinami, the A's are acquiring Lucas, who was born in Thousand Oaks and drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 14th round back in 2019. He recently made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A, and after a rough outing early, he has posted a 2.93 ERA with ten strikeouts and seven walks in 9.2 innings.
The lefty doesn't appear on Baltimore's top prospect lists on Pipeline or FanGraphs. In today's game in Triple-A, he used his four-seam fastball and slider 42% of the time each, followed by his sinker (12%) and changeup (3%). He topped out at 95 with the heater while averaging 92.6, while the slider ranged from 80-89 miles per hour, per Statcast.