MESA, Ariz. -- During his introductory news conference in Oakland last month, Shintaro Fujinami expressed excitement about the possibility of an eventual showdown with fellow countryman Shohei Ohtani in the big leagues.

Turns out, he won’t have to wait that long.

Mapping out the plan for the start of Cactus League action, A’s manager Mark Kotsay revealed that Fujinami will make his spring debut on Tuesday at Hohokam Stadium against the Angels, who have already announced Ohtani as their starter for that Feb. 28 contest.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of excitement about seeing these two,” Kotsay said. “I think it’s been a long time since they’ve been on the same field together.”

Fujinami and Ohtani share a history together that dates back to their days as high school phenoms. The two were both first-round selections in the 2012 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft, Ohtani signing with the Nippon-Ham Fighters and Fujinami landing with the Hanshin Tigers through a lottery process.

Ohtani starred both as a pitcher and hitter in the NPB in five seasons before signing with the Angels in December 2017, while Fujinami spent 10 seasons in Japan, encountering some troubling command issues after initial success over his first few seasons before a resurgent 2022 campaign saw him cut his walk rate down to a career-best 7.6% while posting a 3.78 ERA with 65 strikeouts over 66 2/3 innings.

Tuesday’s matchup will mark the first time Fujinami and Ohtani share the same baseball field in a game setting since 2014, when the two teamed up against stars of Major League Baseball in the Japan All-Star Series. As for prior encounters, Fujinami recalled a high school tournament in which Ohtani homered off him.

“Obviously, [Ohtani is] one of the best players in the world,” Fujinami said through translator Issei Kamada. “It’s a rare matchup. I’m pretty sure Japanese fans are looking forward to it. I also look forward to pitching against him, too.”

In advance of Tuesday’s start, Fujinami faced A’s hitters for the first time this spring in a live batting practice session on Thursday. First to step into the box against the right-hander was Tyler Wade, who was impressed by Fujinami’s repertoire, which included a biting slider and fastball that maxed out at 97 mph.

“It was coming out hot,” Wade said of Fujinami’s pitches. “I was telling everybody that everything out of his hand looked the same. He was tunneling it really well. His pitches had good shape. Good movement. Late movement. He was locating really well, which is a good sign for it being this early in camp.”

Asked if Fujinami’s stuff compares to anyone else he’s faced before, Wade, a teammate of Ohtani’s last year with the Angels, couldn’t help but think of the two-way star after pondering.

“That’s tough,” Wade said. “I would say Shohei just because similar actions on all of his pitches. It looked good. I don’t know the comp. But his stuff looked really good.”

Which pitch looked the best?

“The slider,” Wade said. “I would [also] say his heater just because how hot it came out. But his slider had the location of it. It looked exactly like the heater coming out of his hand. I would say those two. ... He backdoored a couple of cutters. It all looked good.”

The A’s will slowly look to build up Fujinami as a starter this spring, taking into account the fact that he spent the majority of his time in Japan pitching in a six-man rotation. For the first time out, he’ll be on a pitch count of around 35 pitches. Ohtani likely will not be one of the opposing batters, as the Angels are expected to allow him to focus on pitching.

“As we start this thing out, it’s pretty scripted in terms of pitch count and building guys up,” Kotsay said. “I wouldn’t see Fuji going any more than [two innings].”