Masaru Fujii

Fujii was drafted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the 3rd round of the 2020 NPB draft.^[1] Fujii began his career in 2021 with Rakuten's farm team, but did not debut with the main club until 2022, during which he logged a 1–2 record and 3.38 ERA with 10 strikeouts across four appearances.^[2] Fujii made 10 appearances for the Eagles in 2023, recording a 2.29 ERA with 24 strikeouts across 35+1⁄3 innings pitched.^[3]

Fujii began the year pitching out of Rakuten's rotation, posting a 7–1 record and 2.36 ERA with 43 strikeouts over his first 13 games. He was subsequently named an All-Star for the first time in his career.^[4]

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)