WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Nationals left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara got a preview of Major League batters on Monday when he threw to live hitters for the first time in Spring Training.
"Maybe the hitter is hard[er] contact compared to Japanese hitters," Ogasawara said via interpreter Jumpei Ohashi. "[I feel] like it's big leagues, [I] came to MLB."
Paired with starting catcher Keibert Ruiz, Ogasawara faced players including Josh Bell, Andrés Chaparro, Paul DeJong, and Luis García Jr.
"Shinno was good," said manager Dave Martinez. "Fastball was coming out good. He's been doing this for a long time. I know it's a little bit different because he's here. But his mix of pitches were all really good, and his changeup was very, very good."
The morning session offered Ruiz a glimpse into the potential of their tandem this season. Ogasawara is one of seven pitchers vying for a spot in the starting rotation.
"It was fun to catch him, especially a guy that can command all of his pitches," Ruiz said. "The fastball, he can locate it on the corners. The changeup is really a good pitch for him, and he's not afraid to use it to lefties. He's the type of pitcher that wants to mix. He's a veteran, he had his time in Japan, he knows what he's doing."
Ogasawara, 27, played his entire nine-year pro career with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan. He made Monday his live introduction to his new teammates.
Before a pitch even crosses the plate, his delivery can stifle batters. Once he raises his right leg, he pauses briefly before completing his throwing motion. Bell noted that Ogasawara's delivery is unique to a left-hander.
"All of those things that he does, it's not a comfortable at-bat," added Ruiz.
The Nationals lauded Ogasawara for his pitching deception when they signed him to a two-year deal in January. What Ogasawara calls his changeup, several batters call a splitter. García described the pitch as "nasty" and said it is difficult to differentiate from a fastball.
"The thing we talked [about] with him is, if he throws it over the plate -- it doesn't have to be east-to-west as we always talk about -- it's really, really good," said Martinez. "There's a whole lot of swings, not very good swings as we saw today. But he's got to understand that he needs to be over the plate with it, down. And by talking to him, he really has a grasp of what he wants to do with that pitch. If everything else goes south with him, the two things he can revert back to are his curveball and his changeup."
The next step for Ogasawara is to face live batters again before games begin on Saturday, with MacKenzie Gore tabbed to take the mound in the Grapefruit League opener vs. the Astros.
"The only thing that's going to take him a little bit of time is the routine, but he's willing to put in the work," said Martinez. "He's willing to do everything we ask him to do, which is awesome."