Washington Nationals starter Shinnosuke Ogasawara pitches against the Boston Red Sox on July 6, 2025, at Nationals Park. (©KYODO)
Washington Nationals left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara had a disappointing MLB debut on Sunday, July 6.
The 27-year-old left-hander from Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, gave up four runs in the first inning of the series finale against the Boston Red Sox.
Ogasawara exited the game after 2⅔ innings. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and didn't walk a batter. After a shaky start in the first inning, Ogasawara didn't allow another run, but Washington lost its third straight game, 6-4, at Nationals Park.
In the first, Nate Eaton and Roman Anthony hit singles sandwiched around a Romy Gonzalez strikeout. Anthony drove in the first run with his hit.
The next batter, Rob Refsnyder ripped a double to center to make it 2-0. Trevor Story followed with a two-run homer to left-center, his 14th of the season, connecting on a 1-2 slider.
"I can only say one thing: I'm frustrated. I have nothing else to say," Ogasawara told reporters after the game, according to NHK.
Ogasawara threw 55 pitches, 35 for strikes.
"I thought I would pitch my own way, but you don't know what the atmosphere is like until you take the mound for the first time in a stadium," Ogasawara was quoted as saying by NHK. "The first four runs were a huge blow, so I want to avoid that next time."
Shinnosuke Ogasawara: From Nagoya to Washington
The former Chunichi Dragons pitcher (2016-24) signed a two-year deal with the Nationals in January 2025.
In his nine seasons in a Dragons uniform, Ogasawara compiled a 46-65 record with a 3.62 ERA for the Nagoya-based NPB franchise. He had a career-high 10 wins in 2022 for the Central League club.
Ogasawara began the 2025 season with the International League's Rochester Red Wings, the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, making three starts in April. With Rochester, he had a 1-1 record with a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings and 12 strikeouts.
After sustaining an oblique strain and spending time on the injured list, Ogasawara also pitched for the Nationals entry in the Florida Complex League, a rookie-level circuit, on a rehab assignment. Then he made two additional starts in June for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Nationals' High-A affiliate (South Atlantic League). In seven combined innings in those two games, he allowed six hits and four runs in seven innings, fanning 10 and issuing two walks.
"I had always done what I was supposed to do in the minors," Ogsawara said on Sunday, according to NHK. "So I was ready to pitch whenever I was called up to the mound."
On the same day, the Nationals (37-53, the worst record in the National League East) announced the firing of general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez before the game.
Rizzo had served as GM since 2009.
Martinez became the dugout boss before the 2018 season and guided the franchise to a World Series title in 2019.
An interim manager is set to be named on Monday, July 7, according to published reports.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
