In light of Shintaro Fujinami‘s recent struggles, particularly at Koshien Stadium (where he is winless since April 27, 2017), the Hanshin Tigers club has asked that fans tone down (or completely stop) their jeering of the young thin-skinned ace.
Apparently, Fujinami has gone as far as to tell one of his friends that he doesn’t like pitching at Koshien anymore. On Wednesday night, the 24-year old righty struggled with his control again, walking six in 5 1/3 innings, and heard it from the crowd. “You’re still the same as you were last year!”
The club believes that the taunting, jeering, and complaints hail down harder on Fujinami than on any other player, and that perhaps toning it down would help him settle in a little better on the mound. After all, he’s still just in his early 20s, and needs to experience a little more fan loyalty than he’s been getting.
Even some players on other teams have taken notice, with one saying “Poor guy has to put up with a lot of harsh words, even on his home turf.” Perhaps the moment that triggered this movement from the club, however, was Wednesday night’s hero Ryutaro Umeno‘s words from the podium: “I think Shintaro will respond a lot better if he hears more of you guys cheering. I’m going to do my best to support him from behind the mask…”
What do you all think? Is Fujinami being coddled too much, or is this a necessary measure to try to bring him back to excellence?