What I am looking out for in Shinnosuke Ogasawara’s Nats spring debut.
The Washington Nationals first ever signing directly out of Japan Shinnosuke Ogasawara is making his spring debut today on MASN. There is still a lot of unknown surrounding the Japanese left hander. He is definitely the man to watch today. Here are three things I am looking for.
The first thing I am looking for is how hitters swings look against him. While a lot of the Mets stars won’t be playing, established big leaguers like Francisco Alvarez and former Nat Jesse Winker are in the lineup. How Ogasawara looks against those guys will tell you a lot. He is a command oriented pitcher, so he will have to hit his spots to be successful. While he will not get a ton of swings and misses, keep an eye out for uncomfortable swings. He has funky mechanics and gives hitters a unique look.
One thing I wish was available is statcast. I would love to see how hard Ogasawara is throwing. He sat in the 89-90 MPH range in 2024, but was a tick or two higher in the past. His fastball also reportedly has unique characteristics similar to Shota Imanaga of the Cubs, so I wish we could be able to see that data. If he could find a way to even sit around 91-92 MPH, it would unlock so much for him. Can we please get statcast in the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches! I want to know for a fact that Jarlin Susana is sitting at 101 MPH.
Ogasawara was also in the lab with driveline this winter. He developed a new sweeper, most likely as a weapon against left handed pitchers. Sharp pitching mind Lance Brozdowski predicted that a big trend we will see is pitchers using bigger arsenals and throwing more types of pitches. Ogasawara typifies that trend. While he mainly threw four pitches last year, he has a 7 pitch mix and is adding a sweeper which will be yet another weapon at his disposal. Look out for Ogasawara’s diverse pitch mix. He does not have one signature pitch, so he has to rely on his command and deep mix to give hitters information overload.
The last thing I am looking out for is just his level of comfort. Does he feel at home in his North American debut. Moving across the world to a new league with no teammates that speak your language is a tall task. He seems like a confident and charismatic guy though. Ogasawara has his own youtube channel and calls himself the Cowboy. This doesn’t seem like the type of guy to be overwhelmed, but we will have to see for ourselves.
I am really rooting for him because I want this to be the beginning of a pipeline from Japan to the Nationals. It is such a talent rich region that the team has ignored for so long. I want Ogasawara to be the start of something special. Today will be his first test against MLB opposition.