The Nats signed... let me get this right Shinnosuke Ogasawara... for a two year deal.
It's big old question mark move so I don't expect the money to be big.
He doesn't strike out guys - which is a concern, but he doesn't walk guys either. This seems like the type the Nats would like BUT the HR-rate concerns me. While it seems low it's actually higher than average for Japan and has been his whole career. He did legitimately pitch great 2 years ago but he seems to be regressing out of that.
My immediate thinking is he won't really make an impact, but maybe if he can serve the Corbin "eat them innings" role for a rotation full of kids and injury risks. Maybe it's worth it. Of course the japan league has as shorter season than the majors so he hasn't come close to 200 innings or even 180.
It's a signing in line with the "get a bunch of stuff that sort of looks interesting and maybe something works out" that feels like they are doing in this punt the season away 2025. At least they are consistent.
4 comments:
Maybe they're going to a rotation of 4 tandem starters.
Gore + Cavalli
Soroka + Ogasawara
Herz + Irvin
Williams + Parker
Each one is R/L split and could probably pull off 7 or 8 innings in most of their starts.
You'd only have 5 bullpen arms, but that might actually work with so few innings to cover.
I would imagine it’s easier to sign a Japanese player if your team already has one. I know I’d be more comfortable facing a relocation to a foreign city knowing there’d be someone I could talk to. I know it’s not the only reason, but I’m sure it helped Roki Sasaki decide on the Dodgers. So maybe this is a way for the Nats to break into that league?
That may be part of it, but more importantly, the Dodgers have huge marketing operations in Asia. Japanese players playing for them are getting massive endorsement deals. It's one of the reasons Sasaki took a contract now instead of waiting until he could get the max (the other likely explanation being that his pitching style is certain to rip his elbow apart sooner rather than later). The Nats having one Japanese player and cherry blossom City Connect jerseys isn't going to move the needle much on recruiting from NPB.
I view this as a minor deal; I think that it's quite possible that he becomes a long man/swing starter rather than part of the starting rotation. Certainly the Nats needed a better LHRP than La Sorsa. But I'm encouraged that the Nats have started to step into the Asia talent pool. People who have been (rightly) criticizing the Nationals for not being active in Asia shouldn't (reflexively?) dismiss it when they take steps in that direction.
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