Shintaro

Fujinami

Fujinami passed through waivers unsurprisingly after being designated for assignment last Friday. The 30-year-old righty hasn’t panned out this season, failing to make an appearance for the Mets after signing a one-year deal back in February. He’ll most likely wind up electing free agency unless he wants to stick around with the Mets and collect the rest of his $3.35 million salary for this season.

The Mets signed Fujinami for $3.35 million in the offseason, but due to injury and major control issues he never pitched for the team at the major league level. Fujinami had a 7.18 ERA in 64 games for the Athletics and Orioles in 2023. New York has a week to trade Fujinami or place him on waivers.

Fujinami will move up to Double-A after previously working at Low-A St. Lucie. The right-hander can come off the 60-day injured list Wednesday, but it’s unlikely that he makes appearances for the Mets before the All-Star break.

Fujinami has been on the injured list since May 3, and since he’s on the 60-day injured list, he can’t return to the Mets until July 3. There’s no guarantee he’ll be ready by then, but the 30-year-old right-hander will have a chance to join the bullpen near the All-Star break if there’s no setbacks during recovery of his shoulder strain.

The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Joe Hudson. Fujinami, who struggled mightily for Triple-A Syracuse at the beginning of the season, has been sidelined since May 3 with a shoulder strain.

They’re probably doing this in anticipation of shifting him to the 60-day IL at some point. Fujinami last pitched for Syracuse on May 3. He had a 14.09 ERA and a 9/17 K/BB ratio in 7 2/3 innings in Triple-A.

Fujinami is a high-profile cut from Mets camp, but he missed time at the outset of the spring due to visa issues and has struggled mightily through five Grapefruit League appearances. He’ll presumably get some time to iron things out at Triple-A Syracuse before returning to the big leagues.

Fujinami has resolved his visa issues and will return from Japan at some point in the next few days. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty is expected to have enough time to ramp-up his throwing progression in advance of Opening Day with roughly one month left in spring training.

It’s unclear how long Fujinami will be away from the club at the moment. The 29-year-old righty figures to pitch in middle relief for New York after finalizing a one-year, $3.35 million contract earlier this month.

The deal, which was originally agreed to back in early February, was finally made official earlier this week. Fujinami figures to pitch in middle relief for the Mets as they continue to overhaul their bullpen mix leading to All-Star stopper Edwin Díaz. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty’s surface stats weren’t pretty last year in his major league debut split between the Athletics and Orioles, but the stuff is there for him to excel in low-leverage spots.