Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Other Washington Nationals Pitchers Impress Against Mets

Dave Martinez revealed the Washington Nationals starter for Sunday's spring training game against the New York Mets would be Shinnosuke Ogasawara, the Japanese international who made franchise history as the first player from Asia to sign with the franchise.

He was presumed to be a bullpen addition since the starting rotation is crowded, but the Nationals made it clear Ogasawara was signed with the idea he's a starter and that he has every opportunity to prove he should make the Opening Day roster.

With that in mind, he passed his first test.

Washington only had him throw one inning, but he impressed by getting leadoff man Tyrone Taylor to fly out on two pitches before getting Francisco Alvarez to line out on the very next pitch. Ogasawara kept the frame scoreless when he induced a groundball to shortstop that stranded Jesse Winker at second base.

It was a quick inning for the southpaw.

He only threw five pitches, giving up a double to Winker but getting out of the frame without damage.

Ogasawara will need to work on location based on where his pitches ended up in the zone, but being able to navigate a lineup that had three players from the Mets' NLCS roster last season is a good sign.

It was also encouraging to see what happened after the lefty was pulled from the game.

Mitchell Parker came in and was dominant, throwing a hitless inning with a strikeout. Orlando Ribalta showed well for himself in his bullpen audition, throwing his own hitless inning with a strikeout. Both Konnor Pilkington and Jack Sinclair had scoreless outings, and Brad Lord just gave up one run in two innings of work.

Really, the only blemishes for the Nationals came from 2019 first-round pick Jackson Rutledge who gave up two earned runs during his single frame because he had trouble finding the strike zone with four walks, and Daison Acosta, who allowed three earned runs in the final inning.

Outside of that, it was a solid showing from different pitchers on the mound.

The biggest takeaway has to be from what Ogasawara and Parker showed.

With those two being in the middle of a competition for the final spot in the rotation, both performed well during their first game action this spring, a positive sign for Washington when it comes to making a decision ahead of Opening Day.

Recommended Articles