Shinnosuke Ogasawara made his first appearance on American soil against the New York Mets at Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida. Before making his debut, Ogasawara pitched overseas for nine seasons for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. He held a career record with 46 wins and 65 losses. During Ogasawara’s 111 career games, in the 951 innings pitched, Ogasawara holds a career earned run average (ERA) of 3.62. The 3.62 ERA accumulated to give up 916 hits, 383 earned runs, 308 walks, and even 100 home runs. 

In his first spring training outing, Ogasawara pitched one inning. He faced Mets hitters Tyrone Taylor, Francisco Alvarez, Jesse Winker, and Luis De Los Santos. The only hit that Ogasawara surrendered was a double down the left field line hit by Jesse Winker. The one inning totaled eight pitches. Five of those eight pitches were strikes. Ogasawara gave the Nationals a quick glimpse of what fans could expect for the 2025 season. 

Following the Nationals 11-6 victory over the Mets, Davey Martinez said in his press conference discussing Ogasawara’s start, “A lot of it was first pitch swinging. In order to attack hitters, and you’re throwing strikes, that’s what you want to see”.

Ogasawara was not the only highlight of the game. The Nats offense tacked on 11 runs on 13 hits. Dylan Crews went 1 for 2 on the day, including a triple, walk, stolen base, and two runs scored. One of the new additions to the lineup, Nathaniel Lowe, went 1 for 1 with a scorching double to right-center field, 1 RBI, 2 walks, and one run scored.

The Nationals have a day off on Monday, February 24, but will pick things back up when Trevor Williams takes the mound against the Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday, February 25.