WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – He arrived from Japan late Thursday night, exhausted from the long flight and time change, but determined nonetheless to be in the Nationals clubhouse by 8 a.m., then on the practice fields a couple hours later for his first bullpen session as a major leaguer.
And with a bank of cameras, reporters, fans and even one Japanese pitching legend (Daisuke Matsuzaka) watching his every move from a few feet away, Shinnosuke Ogasawara took the mound and threw 40 pitches (at least 10 more than anyone else on hand today) before exiting to cool down and ultimately speak with those reporters and cameras.
What was Ogasawara’s first day at Nationals camp like?
“Nervous,” the left-hander said, according to interpreter Jumpei Ohashi.
Maybe there were nerves – and who could blame the 27-year-old for that – but there was still a positive takeaway from everyone who watched and interacted with the perpetually smiling Ogasawara.
“For me, it’s just his poise, how he handled himself,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Everything’s new to him right now. … It’s going to take some getting used to. We just want to make sure he gets his work in, that he’s comfortable doing everything we ask him to do. What I love about him, he’s got a lot of energy. He’s going to fit right in.”
The Nationals are taking something of a gamble on Ogasawara, the first free agent they’ve ever signed directly from Japan. It’s a modest contract (two years, $3.5 million), but it’s a big leap for a franchise that is finally dipping its toes into the Asian market two decades after arriving in D.C.
An All-Star for the Chunichi Dragons in 2023, Ogasawara comes to the United States after nine seasons pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he went 54-72 with a 3.67 ERA and 1.291 WHIP. The stout, 5-foot-11 lefty doesn’t blow away hitters with the kind of stuff that produces a lot of strikeouts. But he does throw a lot of strikes, and he induces weak contact with a repertoire that includes a sharp-breaking curveball and a fastball-changeup combo that plays well off each other.
“When he got on the mound, a lot of guys would typically throw a number of fastballs just to get themselves going,” pitching coach Jim Hickey said. “But he threw two fastballs, and he went right to the curveball. I asked him about it afterward, and he had a very good reason for it and all that. So it’s thought out. I could be wrong, but he appears to be very methodical and very organized. He’s got a good idea of what he wants to do.”
Ogasawara was fully prepared to throw 80 pitches this morning, but Hickey and the rest of the staff explained how excessive that would be compared to his new teammates, who typically only throw 25-30 pitches at this early stage of the spring. They talked him down to 40, with a short break in the middle of the session, which still left him throwing off the mound long after his pitching group mates (Jake Irvin, Brad Lord, Jack Sinclair) were finished.
“Before he came here, the manager already talked to him, like he needed to slow a little bit on this,” Ohashi, the interpreter, said. “If he doesn’t slow a lot, the manager is going to get fired from the team. So he tried to just fit the pitching plan and do his best.”
The Nationals and Ogasawara are now mapping out a more concrete pitching plan for the spring. He’s used to pitching only once per week in Japan; if he makes the rotation here, he’ll be asked to pitch every five days. He also must get used to the pitch clock for the first time in his career, not to mention the different ball (with different seams) used in the major leagues.
“If his routine is to throw a 125-pitch bullpen between starts, that’s obviously not sustainable over the course of a major league season,” Hickey said. “But again, I’m not just going to mandate that you’re going to have to do this, that or the other. We’re going to have to just come together, and it’s going to be a collaboration and a work in progress, and something that’s probably going to be evolving for the whole entire season while he’s here.”
Ogasawara still has to earn his place in the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation. He appears to be competing with fellow lefties DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker for one (maybe two) available starting spots. The organization could decide at the end of March he still needs more time to adapt and option him to Triple-A Rochester to begin the year.
For now, this newcomer in a new country is focused on adapting as quickly as possible and earning his way onto the roster from the outset. It’s the reason he flew halfway around the world Thursday and wanted to be on the mound this morning, donning his curly W jersey for the first time with a wide smile on his face.
“Since he was 12 years old, he was watching Major League Baseball on the TV,” Ohashi said. “Since then, he’s been looking forward to today.”