The New York Mets' pitching rotation is going to look a bit different during spring training, as Shintaro Fujinami is going to miss some time. He's not dealing with an injury but is instead going back to Japan for a short time.
Fujinami is flying back home to Japan to tend to a personal issue, per Mets' beat writer Anthony DiComo. New York expects him to still be ready to go by Opening Day.
“Mets reliever Shintaro Fujinami is flying back to Japan to deal with a family matter, so he won't be in camp for a few days. The team still expects him to have plenty of time to ramp up for Opening Day.”
It's unknown what the exact family matter is, but that's for Shintaro Fujinami to deal with. Hopefully, it's nothing too serious.
In the meantime, the Mets will play through spring training as planned. Shintaro Fujinami should hopefully return in time to play a few spring training games. But it's not clear when he plans to return to the team.
Shintaro Fujinami made his MLB debut last season where he played for the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles. He served as a starter in Oakland and was switched to the bullpen in Baltimore. Fujinami proved to be much more consistent playing for the Orioles and could be a great asset out of the bullpen for the Mets.
With that said, more updates regarding Fujinami should be released in the coming days or weeks. He'll fit right in to the rotation once he returns to action.