How Can Nationals Pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara Improve Heading Into Year Two?

The Washington Nationals should look to continue to develop Shinnosuke Ogasawara in 2026, and there are a few ways that could be handled.

Sep 15, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara (16) throws to the Atlanta Braves during the game at Nationals Park. | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals put together another somewhat disappointing campaign in 2025 following an offseason of moves that were relatively hit or miss.

One of the signings they ended up making late in the process was starting pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who came over from the NPB following a nine-year stint with the Chunichi Dragons.

He came over as a somewhat unknown prospect in terms of what he could deliver at the MLB level, but he produced well in Japan, with his ability to stave off walks being one of the most crucial components of his game.

While his velocity on a four-seam fastball was less than optimal, he had multiple other pitches to work with that were productive and could translate well to the Major Leagues.

The #Nationals have agreed to terms with Japanese international free-agent LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara, per a team announcement.

Ogasawara, 27, posted a 3.12 ERA over 144 1/3 innings with 82 strikeouts with the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Professional Baseball league last year. pic.twitter.com/SyJUwY5Tew

— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) January 24, 2025

In his first season in the MLB, he mostly played in relief, starting only two of his 23 appearances. In that span, he had a 6.98 ERA, 1.552 WHIP, 30 strikeouts, 17 walks, nine home runs allowed and a 1.76 SO/BB ratio. It felt as though he was pitching away from the zone to avoid being hit hard on the fastball, which ultimately set up a difficult position for him in many showings. However, there were a few positive things to take away from his first year.

What Are Some Clear Ways to Improve for Ogasawara in 2026?

Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Starting off with his minor league stint, in Triple-A, he made five starts, posting a 3.60 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 19 strikeouts, eight walks, one home run allowed and a 2-1 record across 25 innings of work. He showed that he could be a productive arm against near-MLB caliber competition; he just needed to work out some of the difficult parts of his game.

What becomes intriguing is how his pitch mix fared against MLB competition. According to Baseball Savant, his fastball and changeup were both hit often, with his four-seam allowing opponents to bat .351 with a .579 SLG.

However, two of his other pitches looked to be really promising, those being the knuckle curveball and slider, both of which were providing outstanding results statistically across 129 and 125 pitches, respectively.

The curve was where he found his stride, though, with opponents only hitting .100 against it with a .300 SLG, as he produced six strikeouts with it while only giving up two hits. Additionally, he mixed in the very occasional sinker and gave up no hits with it across 10 throws, while also putting up an average velocity of 91.4 MPH compared to his 91.1 on the four-seam.

Heading into 2026, it may be worth having him develop the sinker more as a primary pitch, and then utilizing the knuckle curve and slider as mix-in pitches, and an occasional changeup just to show something else. Phasing out the four-seam to some extent would likely benefit his game for now, unless he can find some more movement on it in the future.

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