Shintaro Fujinami’s pitching has been a disaster…An expert on form analysis clearly points out the cause of his no con…

Athletics Shintaro Fujinami (29) continues to have poor control.

On June 12 (Japan time) against the Brewers, Fujinami took the mound as the fourth pitcher. He gave up two walks in a row and left the mound after getting only one out. 5 of his 14 pitches were strikes, and his control was so poor that his strike rate dropped to the 11-point range (as of June 13).

What is the cause of Fujinami’s no-contact? Taku Kawamura, an expert in motion analysis and associate professor at the University of Tsukuba’s College of Physical Education, explains.

I think Fujinami is aware of his poor control of the ball. Fujinami must have received a lot of advice from various people. The effect of that is that his body movements are inconsistent and disjointed, and he is not able to control the ball.

Let us look at Fujinami’s form in detail. First, let’s look at picture (1). Kawamura says he is concerned that Fujinami’s left arm is too low.

If the arm is lowered, the movement to raise it naturally becomes larger. If the arm is lowered, the movement to raise it becomes larger, which leads to waste. A good example of a tall, sidethrowing right fielder like Fujinami is Eckersley, who was the Athletics’ guardian angel. He kept his arm motion compact to avoid wastage and raised his left arm quickly. At the point in photo #2, Fujinami’s left arm should be higher.”

In picture (3), many of Fujinami’s issues can be seen, according to Kawamura. Kawamura continued, “Fujinami’s left shoulder is too far inside.

Fujinami’s left shoulder is turned inward too much, which causes his arm to rotate too much. This causes his arm to rotate too much and go farther away from his body. The further away from the body, the harder it is to control the ball.

Picture (4) is also unnatural.

In picture (4), too, the movement is unnatural. “Up to (3), the movement is that of a side throw, but in picture (4), the right elbow is above the shoulder and the movement is that of an overthrow. The movement is disjointed. The weight is not placed firmly on the hips, so the upper body is thrusting in.”

About the finish photo (5).

In photo (5) of the finish, the player is trying to control the ball with the power of his upper body, which is causing his body to drift forward. This is because there is no consistency in the movement of the upper and lower body, and the body is not moving smoothly. If you continue with this form, you run the risk of breaking down.”

Fujinami, who was drafted first overall by Hanshin, has won double-digit games in three consecutive years since his first year as a professional. Can he make a comeback?

Fujinami has long arms and legs and can throw his fastball over 160 km/h at an angle. Fujinami’s qualities as a pitcher are probably greater than those of Shohei Otani. First of all, he should establish what type of pitcher he wants to be. Sidethrowing is fine, overthrowing is fine. If he can be consistent in his form, he should be able to win double-digit games in the Majors.

Fujinami has been struggling with control issues. Fujinami, who has been struggling with control problems, is looking not for advice from others, but for the ideal pitcher he wants to be.

The glove should be in a higher position.

(3) Ideally, the glove should be more toward the home side.

(iv) In (iv), the movement is in the form of an overthrow, even though it had been a side-throw movement. The upper and lower body are disjointed due to unnatural body movement.

Picture ⑤ Relying on the power of the upper body, in Picture ⑤, the body is thrusting forward.

From “FRIDAY” June 30, 2023 issue