Did Shintaro Fujinami and Shohei Ohtani go to the same high school? Mapping the Oakland Athletics pitcher's baseball career before MLB move

Shintaro Fujinami made his highly anticipated debut with the Oakland A’s against the LA Angels during a recent Cactus League game. He faced off against his fellow Japanese player, Shohei Ohtani, generating a huge buzz in the Japanese media.

Shintaro Fujinami is Oakland A’s new pitcher

Did Shintaro Fujinami and Shohei Ohtani go to the same hisghschool?

Although Fujinami and Shohei Ohtani did not atend the same highschool, their rivalry dates back to their younger years, when both pitchers faced each other back in 2012 in the National Baseball Championship of Japan.

Since then, they have rarely crossed paths, but their meeting on Tuesday was a spectacle that drew in large crowds that were eagerly waiting to see the two Japanese titans face off against each other.

Fujinami pitched two innings and recorded three strikeouts, while Ohtani, who was starting his only game of the spring before joining the Japanese National Team for the World Baseball Classic, pitched 2.1 innings and also had two strikeouts. The game ended in an 11-5 victory for the Angels.

A look into Shintaro Fujinami’s career

Fujinami's love for baseball began at a young age. He started playing Little League Baseball for the Takeshirodai Club and continued playing baseball in high school at Osaka Toin High School, where he became the ace pitcher for the school's team.

In his final year, he led Tōin to victory at both the Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament and Japanese High School Baseball Championship, where he pitched two consecutive complete shutout games in both the semi-finals and finals. The same championship in which he faced Shohei Ohtani for the first time.

In 2012, Fujinami was the number 1 pick of the Tigers, Buffaloes, Marines, and the Swallows in the Nippon Professional Baseball draft. However, Hanshin won the four-way lottery and assigned him jersey number 19. He made his debut on March 31, 2013, and quickly gained popularity, finishing his rookie year with a 10-6 record, 125 strikeouts, and a 2.75 ERA in 23 starts.

Over the next few years, Shintaro Fujinami continued to perform well in the NPB, leading the league in strikeouts in 2015 and setting career bests in multiple categories.

Throughout his NPB career, he recorded a 3.41 ERA with a career low of 2.08 in 2019 for a total of 10 seasons. His talent and potential were recognized by the Oakland Athletics, who signed him to a one-year, $3.25 million contract in January 2023.

Shintaro Fujinami's next challenge will be to build off of his first appearance, as he aims to become a special player in the league. The two could potentially face each other again during Oakland's opening series of the regular season, something that Ohtani is looking forward to.

For now, Fujinami is focused on soaking up teachings and working hard to prove to not only others, but himself that he is a valuable player in the league.