WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The first official workout of the spring saw 10 members of the Nationals pitching staff take the mound for their first bullpen sessions in front of the full coaching staff and assembled media and fans.

There were familiar faces (MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams, Jose A. Ferrer, Eduardo Salazar). There were semi-forgotten faces (Cade Cavalli, Joan Adon). And there were several new faces (Jarlin Susana, Evan Reifert, Tyler Stuart, Clay Helvey) were drew plenty of attention from observers getting their first look at that group.

Was there a common theme among all the throwers?

“What I liked today was that everyone looked like they were under control, throwing strikes,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Today, my message was very simple. Stay engaged. Keep where your feet are. And focus on throwing strikes. We’ve been very effective when we get ahead, and we’re going to continue to preach that.”

Perhaps the best sign of the progress the Nationals believe they’ve made in that regard: The famed “I don’t care how hard you throw ball four” signs that caused a minor stir last spring are nowhere to be found this time around.

During the early parts of this offseason, the Nationals were in search of starting pitchers. It didn’t need to be filled right then and there, but the front office brass left December’s Winter Meetings in Dallas without any additions to the major league roster except for Rule 5 Draft pick Evan Reifert.

Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams became free agents at the end of last season. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz, while impressive in their respective rookie seasons, weren’t sure things to stay in the big league rotation in 2025.

Josiah Gray is expected to miss most of this year while recovering from his Tommy John surgery and internal brace procedure. Cade Cavalli still needs to prove he can pitch every five days in the majors while working his way back from his own Tommy John surgery.

MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin were the only sure things in the Nats rotation heading into the new season.

But then a week after returning home from Dallas, the Nats signed right-hander Michael Soroka to a modest one-year, $9 million contract. On New Year’s Eve, they brought back Williams on a new two-year, $14 million deal. And in January, they signed left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year, $3.5 million contract, the first ever given by the club to a player directly from Asia.

Why did it take 20 years for the Nationals to sign their first free agent from Asia?

“That market is a market that is built on relationships,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “You can’t go down there and just pick and choose a guy you want to scout and try and sign him. That market, I dabbled in it when I was with Arizona a few times. And here, we’ve tried at several Asian players. And it’s just … you’re always on the outside looking in, because you don’t have the network there, the groundwork there, that you need to have to create these relationships.”

The Nats finally broke through Friday when they signed Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year, $3.5 million deal (plus a $700,000 posting fee to the Chunichi Dragons). The Japanese left-hander thus became the first free agent to ink a deal with this franchise directly from Asia, a long-awaited development some thought might never come to fruition.

Three Asian-born players have appeared in games for the Nationals over the last two decades, but all joined the club after playing professionally for other major league organizations.

Japan’s Tomo Ohka originally signed with the Red Sox in 2001 before getting traded to the Expos in 2004 for Ugueth Urbina and ultimately making nine starts for the Nats in 2005.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara isn’t the first Japanese player Mike Rizzo has scouted, or even attempted to sign. The Nationals have been trying to make inroads in Asia for years but, according to Rizzo, had been unsuccessful at building the kind of meaningful relationships needed to seal the deal.

How did they finally break through and get Ogasawara to agree to a two-year, $3.5 million contract, the club’s first acquisition of a free agent from Asia? Thanks to the combination of the 27-year-old left-hander’s status and availability, and the fact Rizzo and the Nats did in this case have an established relationship with his agents.

“With this particular player, we liked the skillset,” Rizzo said. “We liked (that) the age fits our timeline, that type of thing. And in this particular case, we did have a relationship with the agency. And that made us more attractive for him to choose us, rather than some other team this time.”

Ogasawara is represented by WME Sports, including agent Bryan Minniti, who just so happened to be Rizzo’s assistant general manager with the Nationals from 2010-14. Thanks to that connection, the Nats were able to get through the front door, meet with Ogasawara and pitch him on the idea of coming to Washington.

Part of that pitch was the promise of a shot at making an Opening Day rotation that suddenly looks more crowded than most expected. The Nationals have already signed veteran free agents Michael Soroka and Trevor Williams this winter, with each right-hander saying he expects to start for the team. They join holdovers MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, plus promising young lefties DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker. And with 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli potentially ready to return from injury at some point, and 2024 Opening Day starter Josiah Gray targeting a return from elbow surgery before season’s end, club officials are likely to have some decisions to make this spring.

Friday’s signing of Shinnosuke Ogasawara truly came out of left field. Not only because the Nationals had never signed a free agent out of Japan (or any other Asian country). But because they didn’t seem to be in the market for another starting pitcher, at least not one who wouldn’t instantly slot into the front of the rotation, as opposed to the back.

Ogasawara, by all indications, does not project to be a frontline starter in the major leagues. He figures to get a shot to earn the fourth or fifth starter job coming out of spring training. But there’s also reasonable speculation his chances of long-term success here will increase if he becomes a reliever.

The Nats didn’t give the 27-year-old left-hander a guaranteed, two-year deal worth a reported $3.5 million, though, if they didn’t expect him to be part of the Opening Day pitching staff. And Ogasawara, whose 45-day negotiating window was set to expire Friday if he didn’t sign with any major league club, likely chose Washington because of the opportunity he’ll get here that perhaps he wasn’t guaranteed to get elsewhere.

We’re scheduled to hear from general manager Mike Rizzo this afternoon, so hopefully we’ll get a better idea then what exactly the club’s plans for Ogasawara are. But if he truly is given a chance to make the rotation, he’s going to join a crowded group of arms competing for only a couple of open spots.

Barring a trade – which, of course, you can never rule out – the Nationals will go into spring training with MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin assured of starting jobs, based on their performances last season. That now leaves five others, in theory, competing for three more spots in the rotation.

For the first time in club history, the Nationals have signed a player directly from Asia, announcing today a two-year deal with Japanese left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara.

Ogasawara was an All-Star for the Chunichi Dragons in 2023 and posted a 3.12 ERA over 144 1/3 innings last season, his ninth in Nippon Professional Baseball. The 27-year-old is not known for high strikeout totals (only 82 last season) but has proven to be an extreme strike-thrower and groundball specialist, issuing only 22 walks while allowing only nine homers.

Financial terms of the contract weren’t immediately clear, but it is a major league deal, putting Ogasawara on the Nationals’ 40-man roster. To clear space for him, the club designated left-hander Joe La Sorsa for assignment.

Though he was not as highly touted as some other recent Japanese pitchers, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, both high-profile additions by the Dodgers, Ogasawara did draw interest from a number of major league franchises. The posting deadline to sign him was today, adding some urgency to the Nats’ pursuit. Had he not signed with anyone by the end of the day, he would have gone back to the Dragons for another season.

It remains to be seen how the Nationals intend to utilize Ogasawara. Though he's been starter throughout his career in Japan, American scouting reports have suggested he could be more effective as a reliever if he can’t make it as a back-of-the-rotation arm. The team has already signed two free agents this winter, Michael Soroka and Trevor Williams, who were under the impression they’ll be starting to begin the season. MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin are locks to lead the staff after their performances in 2024. Young lefties DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker should also be in the mix this spring.