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The story
Shuntaro Fujinami, recently informed he’s been cut from the roster, is the subject of fresh comments from Yoshinori Sato — known as the “mentor” who developed the command of pitchers like Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish. In a Yahoo News article, Sato said he’s “confident he can fix [Fujinami’s] control issues” and suggested that “his previous coaches probably just couldn’t coach him properly.” The remarks split a 5ch thread between posters debating the technical root causes and those arguing the real problem is Fujinami’s own refusal to take advice. Some pointed out his control was already shaky back in high school, while others suggested he switch from a three-quarter arm slot to a full overhand delivery — the debate never settled on one answer.
Fujinami Shuntaro, cut from the roster — Yoshinori Sato, “mentor” to Tanaka and Darvish: “There’s a prescription for overcoming his control problems”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
He'd probably listen now, though.
Sounds like the plot of some American movie lol
Fujinami hasn't changed at all since he joined the team, honestly. The in-step thing and Kanemoto's '160' remark have nothing to do with each other.
Nah, Fujinami does listen — he just drops it again almost immediately.
Your body changes as you age, and most guys change through getting hurt along the way — but this guy's needlessly durable, so he never even gets that kind of wake-up call.
If no control is acceptable, there are guys throwing 160 km/h in the independent leagues too.
The Athletics just set the mitt dead center and had him throw right down the pipe. When Fujinami throws comfortably like that, even a hittable pitch down the middle doesn't get hit much. I think that's genuinely the right approach for him.
Not just the last few years — it's been like that since his Hanshin days.
Exactly. He should switch to a full overhand delivery. That way, even if a pitch slips out, it won't sail into the batter, so he can cut loose at full effort.
I guess velocity and home-run stuff are just irresistible to coaches too.
Even back in high school his pitches were all over the place — he had no control then either.
Guys who only ever do practice they're told to do never develop self-direction. For guys like that, you can't hand them autonomy as pros either — you need a coach glued to their side running practice all the way to retirement. It's a vicious cycle, because the more talented a guy is, the longer he can coast purely on assigned practice.
That's because he was throwing with an AI-coached, control-focused form back then. And he *still* had no control lol
Because his talent far exceeds even Ohtani's.
Even sidearm, if a pitch slips out it'll still head toward the batter. Switching to overhand is better — there's no point sticking with three-quarter.
Pretty much anyone could come up with this idea — so why hasn't anyone tried it yet? Is there some reason?
Sounds like it'd just produce a Reiwa-era [modern-day] Hiramoto.
He just doesn't have much drive to improve. Even when Ohtani treated him dismissively, he didn't seem to care much.
Well, you probably shouldn't associate with a convicted criminal anyway.
The moment he can't put in the effort and starts making excuses about 'the yips,' that just shows he was that caliber of player to begin with. Sucks for anyone still holding out hope for him, but there it is.
He can put in effort. The problem is he's got too much talent and no hunger. Ohtani got knocked out at the prefectural tournament; Fujinami won the spring-and-summer national high school championship double. He's still the fastest-throwing Japanese pitcher in the majors even now. I think deep down he's satisfied thinking, 'I'm actually number one, really.'
Background and Key Points of Debate
Yoshinori Sato is well-regarded as the coach who developed the command of pitchers like Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish, and his technical instruction carries real credibility. Fujinami, meanwhile, drew attention for his blazing fastball as far back as his Osaka Toin High School days and still holds the record for fastest pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher in MLB, yet his control problems have never been resolved, whether at the top or farm-team level, since turning pro. The thread split between those who believe “technical adjustments can still fix him” and those who argue the real issue is his attitude — that he won’t take instruction and lacks the drive to improve. The former camp points to concrete mechanical fixes, like switching from a three-quarter arm slot to an overhand or sidearm delivery; the latter notes that numerous coaches have already worked with him without results. It’s also worth noting that, according to some posters, his control was actually never stable even back in high school — so the view that “coaches ruined him after he turned pro” isn’t necessarily the whole story.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Yoshinori Sato: ‘I’m confident I can fix Fujinami’s control, his previous coaches probably just couldn’t coach him properly’.”
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