Washington Nationals Make Team History With Latest Addition to Pitching Staff

The Washington Nationals have signed their first-ever player out of Asia, a Japanese southpaw to add to the pitching staff.
May 30, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Washington Nationals hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning at Truist Park.
May 30, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Washington Nationals hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning at Truist Park. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Washington Nationals broke some news on Friday afternoon with the announcement they signed Japanese southpaw Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year deal.

Mark Zuckerman of MASN pointed out this as the first time the team had ever signed a player directly out of Asia.

Ogasawara has been with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball since 2016. He has a career 3.62 ERA and was an All-Star back in 2023. It was last-minute deal as his posting window was set to close soon.

His transition to the MLB game will be interesting. He has great control and rarely walks batters, but he also doesn't generate very many strikeouts.

The 27-year-old is a starting pitcher, which does create an interesting dilemma for the Nationals. They entered the offseason only really needing to sign one more starter for a complete rotation.

Breakout stars like DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker figured to close out the bottom of the rotation given their solid rookie campaigns.

Washington has also both brought back Trevor Williams and signed Michael Soroka. So that gives them six potential starters, even before considering Ogasawara.

They could potentially transition their new southpaw to the bullpen, seeing as his game does fit a situational role.

Low walks and low strikeouts could lead to a solid groundball pitcher and lefty specialist.

Having too many pitchers is better than having too few pitchers, so it is a nice problem to have.

Overall, Nationals pitchers combined for a 4.30 ERA last season. That ranked No. 23 in all of MLB.

It is good to see the team not just riding it out and continuing to search for ways to improve.


Published