Author Topic: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara  (Read 1313 times)

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Offline nobleisthyname

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #25 on: January 25, 2025, 02:21:50 pm »
If they are thinking about Ogasawara as a starter then things get a bit interesting with Gore, Irvin, Parker, Williams, Soroka, Herz, and Ogasawara battling for 5 slots. Gore and Irvin are locks, probably Williams too. Herz should be a lock given how he pitched in the 2nd half last year.

IIRC they've said Soroka is a lock for the rotation as well.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #26 on: January 25, 2025, 04:58:53 pm »
I do wonder if Parker or Herz will start the year in the bullpen. It's a nice way to strengthen the bullpen and I don't think it preclude a move back to starting.
Why would you do that though? You always need more starting pitching.

Soroka has been the epitome of poor health in pitching over the last five years. Williams is going to be 33 and has injury concerns. And Japanese pitchers always seem to struggle with their first season in MLB, due to a different ball and rotation schedules.

Best case scenario is we deal those guys at the deadline. But more than likely, Soroka will struggle and then go on the IL, with one of Williams or Ogasawara joining him by the end of May.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #27 on: January 25, 2025, 05:11:16 pm »
There's an abundance of lefties for the rotation. Does Herz have much to prove in AAA?

I'd say it looks like Gore, Williams, Irvin, Soroka, and Shinno as a potential rotation. If that happens,  I don't see both Parker and Herz in the minors. Shinnosuke isn't much older than Parker and Irvin. Actually younger than Irvin

Offline GataNats

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #28 on: January 25, 2025, 09:27:57 pm »
Herz has more upside than anyone we have.  If he isn’t at least the number 3 starter, WTF are we even doing

Offline zimm_da_kid

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #29 on: January 25, 2025, 10:33:21 pm »
Gore, Irvin, Herz, and Williams should be locks. Soroka should be in the pen. Cavalli should be in aaa until he proves hecan stay healthy and force the issue. Should be Parker vs shinno for the 5 spot with the loser as a reliever.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #30 on: January 25, 2025, 11:08:35 pm »
There's an abundance of lefties for the rotation. Does Herz have much to prove in AAA?

I'd say it looks like Gore, Williams, Irvin, Soroka, and Shinno as a potential rotation. If that happens,  I don't see both Parker and Herz in the minors. Shinnosuke isn't much older than Parker and Irvin. Actually younger than Irvin
Second half he struggled with command, walking over 4 per 9 innings. He struggled to get deep into games, largely due to his pitch count. By deep, I mean into the 5th inning. And he probably has a soft innings cap.

I think there's more than enough to let him start in Triple A with Parker, unless they blow away everyone in ST. We clearly aren't competing, so there's no reason to rush a young arm with potential.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #31 on: January 25, 2025, 11:09:09 pm »
Gore, Irvin, Herz, and Williams should be locks. Soroka should be in the pen. Cavalli should be in aaa until he proves hecan stay healthy and force the issue. Should be Parker vs shinno for the 5 spot with the loser as a reliever.
Soroka should he, but he wont. They told him he's going to get a shot at the rotation, so they will give it to him.

Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #32 on: January 26, 2025, 08:44:14 pm »
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/mike-rizzo-discusses-nationals-rotation-plans-offseason-moves.html

I missed in the reports and discussions that Rizzo is not guaranteeing Shinno a roster spot, let alone a rotation spot, according to Zuckerman and others.

Quote
“We signed [Ogasawara] to be a starting pitcher for us in the big leagues,” Rizzo told reporters, including Zuckerman. “Of course, he’ll have to earn that spot in the rotation. I think there’s going to be great competition for the five spots in the rotation by some good, young, talented players. If he’s not ready for the big leagues, then we could always option him to Triple-A and bring him up sometime during the season. But we anticipate him battling out for a rotation spot, and I think it’s going to be a fun competition to watch.”

discussing the Nats approach to the offseason and their reluctance to block positions and give up draft capital:
Quote
The club’s approach of adding plenty of depth to the rotation to ease their reliance on up-and-coming youngsters without blocking them meshes will with the club’s overall philosophy for this winter. As Nausbaum notes, Rizzo told reporters that given “where [the club is] at right now,” the club was cautious about signing free agents with a qualifying offer attached due to the associated loss of draft capital and international bonus pool money. The club’s reluctance to target qualified free agents led the club to bring in a number of short-term reinforcements this winter.
...
That reluctance to block top prospects and young players seems to have played a significant role in how the club’s offseason has played out to this point. Early in the winter, the Nationals were among the teams most frequently connected to Christian Walker before he ultimately signed with the Astros. Walker, of course, received a Qualifying Offer from the Diamondbacks that may have limited the Nationals’ interest in him and led to them pivoting towards the additions of Lowe and Bell. It’s also possible that the club’s desire to avoid blocking young players contributing to them not signing second baseman Gleyber Torres. Torres made clear shortly after he signed with the Tigers that the Nats were among the teams pursuing him but that they had wanted him to move to third base in order to accommodate 24-year-old Luis Garcia Jr. after he enjoyed something of a breakout season in 2024. When Torres landed elsewhere, the Nationals opted to sign Rosario, who has moved around to a number of positions all throughout his career and should have no trouble playing out of position if needed.


Offline nobleisthyname

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #33 on: January 27, 2025, 09:46:27 am »
Quote
The club’s approach of adding plenty of depth to the rotation to ease their reliance on up-and-coming youngsters without blocking them

With the Williams and Soroka signings and them being guaranteed spots in the rotation, it seems at least one of the youngsters who established themselves as a major league quality starter last year will be blocked to start the season, no? Unless they're going with a 6-man rotation.

Online Natsinpwc

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #34 on: January 27, 2025, 10:05:23 am »
Don’t worry. A pitcher will get hurt.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #35 on: January 27, 2025, 10:39:04 am »
Don’t worry. A pitcher will get hurt.
Yep. That's what I'm saying. Stockpiling back of the rotation guys is a great idea.

Offline nobleisthyname

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #36 on: January 27, 2025, 10:55:37 am »
I'm not worried about it, I just wish we weren't guaranteeing spots to people who aren't part of the core group of youngsters.

I agree it will work itself out probably sooner than later so it's mostly a non-issue.

Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #37 on: January 27, 2025, 11:52:28 am »
I'm not worried about it, I just wish we weren't guaranteeing spots to people who aren't part of the core group of youngsters.

I agree it will work itself out probably sooner than later so it's mostly a non-issue.
the thing is, Shinno is younger than Irvin and the same age as Parker. That said, if he's a FA after 2026, then he's not a core guy. The team's not offering him a QO unless he turns into Pivetta-level or better, so they really don't have much leverage on an extension if he's any good.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #38 on: January 27, 2025, 03:48:59 pm »
Two Post articles on the signing. Nusbaum and Golden.

Golden:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/01/24/shinnosuke-ogasawara-nationals-japan/

Quote
Ogasawara’s fastball sits in the high 80s to low 90s. But he does display strong command. He struck out only 5.1 hitters per nine innings in 2024, but he also walked only 1.4. Ogasawara’s pitch arsenal includes a fastball, change-up, slider, knuckle-curve and splitter.

One scout for another MLB organization whose coverage area includes Japan called Ogasawara a “good, low-risk signing” for the Nationals because of his upside if he can return to his form from the 2022 season, when he pitched to a 2.76 ERA.
Golden notes his posting period ran out Friday, so I'll have to assume this was the best / only offer out there and he just wanted to get to MLB to show his stuff works.

Golden views Gore, Irvin, and Soroka as rotation locks, with Williams, Ogasawara, Herz, and Parker in competition for the last couple of slots. Williams and Shino would like go to the bullpen if not in the rotation, while HErz and Parker would be likely in AAA with their options.

Nusbaum:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/01/25/nationals-shinnosuke-ogasawara-signing-flexibility/
Rizzo on issues with signing players direct from the Japanese leagues via the posting system:
Quote
“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,” Rizzo said of the team’s investment in Japan. “We scout these players every year. We scouted Shino the last couple of seasons in Japan, and we’ve liked players in the past. We just didn’t have the relationship and the background to sell these players to come to D.C.”
With Shino, the Nats had a good relationship with his agents, WME, making DC more attractive. Nats are adding more scouting over there, seeing more players, and generally being more active and visible, per Rizzo.

Attractive things about Ogasawara - pitch mix, low walk rate, generates soft contact, durable.

More Rizzo:
Quote
He said the Nationals will discuss pitch sequencing and pitch shapes with Ogasawara, as they believe there is room for him to grow in those areas. If he needs time in the minor leagues, Washington appears to have three near-locks for the rotation (MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Michael Soroka) and six other arms that could see big league time (Trevor Williams, DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, Jackson Rutledge, Brad Lord and Tyler Stuart).

Nusbaum notes that, while the Nats have added $40 million in players over the offseason, they are still about $20 million below last year's salaries per Roster Resource. REpeats a quote we've highilighted before, that the team did not want to lose a pick for a guy with a QO and did not want to block prospects. They don't view this as blocking Herz, Parker, etc... as much as adding depth and "you never have too much pitching." Rizzo thinks the staff now is deeper than its been in years.


Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #39 on: January 27, 2025, 03:56:16 pm »

Golden:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/01/24/shinnosuke-ogasawara-nationals-japan/

Golden views Gore, Irvin, and Soroka as rotation locks, with Williams, Ogasawara, Herz, and Parker in competition for the last couple of slots. Williams and Shino would like go to the bullpen if not in the rotation, while HErz and Parker would be likely in AAA with their options.

I think I'd be more comfortable if Soroka and Williams were in a competition for one spot, with the loser of that in competition with the 3 lefites for 2 spots. I don't expect that mostly because of the "commitment" made to Soroka when he signed.

I would also like to see the 3rd guy out of the competition for the bottom slots in the rotation kept as the long man / multi-inning reliever. I've gotten spoiled a bit by some of the guys in that role for the Red Sox in recent years and think it's a good way to get innings covered without hurting development of an eventual starter.


Offline Smithian

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #40 on: February 04, 2025, 11:28:24 am »
People panicked about XXXX not being in the rotation are strangely confident that (a) the Nationals will be first MLB team to solve pitching injuries or (b) everyone will perform in Spring Training and no one will show themselves to Rochester.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #41 on: February 15, 2025, 06:13:01 pm »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/02/15/shinnosuke-ogasawara-nationals-spring-training/

Article on his 1st bullpen session. Daisuke Matsuzaka was there with the Japanese media and spoke with Ogasawara before his 40 pitch bullpen session. I hope it wasn't about how to annoyingly nibble and pitch with pluck-your-eyes-out agonizing pace. Ruiz communicated with him when he threw off the mound by signs.

Team is having him throw fewer pitches in prep and bullpens and trying to figure out how to help him adjust to 5 man rotations. Given the lack of depth in the bullpen, I wonder if they would explore a 6 man rotation?

Quote
So Ogasawara tossed 40 pitches to Ruiz, a mix of his fastballs, curveballs, sliders and changeups. He took a break after 20 pitches and was last to finish. Overall, he felt his throws were “a little off.” Once he was finished, he gathered to talk with a group that included Ohashi, pitching coach Jim Hickey and Manager Dave Martinez.

Ogasawara is used to throwing longer bullpen sessions. But Friday, he and Hickey discussed how many pitches he should throw beforehand. Ogasawara suggested a number, which Hickey asked him to cut in half.

“I’m not just going to mandate that you’re going to have to do this, that or the other,” Hickey said. “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.”

Offline CoryTheFormerExposFan

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #42 on: February 15, 2025, 06:19:58 pm »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/02/15/shinnosuke-ogasawara-nationals-spring-training/

Article on his 1st bullpen session. Daisuke Matsuzaka was there with the Japanese media and spoke with Ogasawara before his 40 pitch bullpen session. I hope it wasn't about how to annoyingly nibble and pitch with pluck-your-eyes-out agonizing pace. Ruiz communicated with him when he threw off the mound by signs.

Team is having him throw fewer pitches in prep and bullpens and trying to figure out how to help him adjust to 5 man rotations. Given the lack of depth in the bullpen, I wonder if they would explore a 6 man rotation?

I could see instead of a true 6-man rotation, having a 6th swing man start if there are 6 consecutive days of games so that everyone always gets 5 days rest.  If there is an off day through a turn, then the 6th guy is skipped and stays in the bullpen.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #43 on: February 15, 2025, 06:55:41 pm »
The problem with the 6 man rotation is that we seem chalk full of 5 and dive guys, which would leave the pen overworked.

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #44 on: February 15, 2025, 09:32:28 pm »
The problem with the 6 man rotation is that we seem chalk full of 5 and dive guys, which would leave the pen overworked.
certainly they'd have to let Williams go a 3rd time through the order.

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #45 on: February 16, 2025, 02:41:23 pm »
Any plan that involves Herz going to AAA is a mistake

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Re: Nats sign Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara
« Reply #46 on: February 16, 2025, 05:15:38 pm »
Any plan that involves Herz going to AAA is a mistake
I think one lefty goes to the pen among Parker, Herz, and Ogasawara