Shinnosuke

Ogasawara

Ogasawara passed through waivers and is now off the 40-man roster. The 28-year-old will need to be added back to the 40-man if he wins a spot with Washington to open the 2026 season.

Ogasawara is back on the active roster, and it seems likely he’ll be there to make starts for the Nationals. It’s yet to be determined when that start will take place, but fantasy managers should consider the right-hander matchup-dependent for the remainder of 2025, at best.

Ogasawara is sent back to the minors a day after he allowed three runs in four innings against the Brewers. The 27-year-old will likely be back after the All-Star break, but a corresponding transaction to help the Washington bullpen will be announced before Sunday’s game against the Brew Crew.

The Nationals know they’re not getting much more than this from Ogasawara, who is still working his way back from an oblique injury, but they didn’t really have anywhere else to turn after Trevor Williams went down. Ogasawara has a 9.45 ERA and has pitched 6 2/3 innings in his two starts for the club.

Boston is the number one offense in baseball against left-handed pitching, so this was not an ideal MLB debut spot for the soft-tossing lefty. He allowed four runs on four hits in the first inning and then escaped damage in the second inning without runs scoring despite allowing two hits and hitting a batter. After allowing back-to-back two-out singles in the third, he was lifted for a reliever. He may get another start next week against the Brewers, but he had just four whiffs on 21 swings in this game and is not a recommended add in fantasy leagues.

Ogasawara will make his big-league debut on Sunday afternoon against the Red Sox. The 27-year-old southpaw is not a recommended streaming option for fantasy purposes, especially since he’s compiled an uninspiring 4.80 ERA and 12/4 K/BB ratio across 15 innings (three starts) this season at the Triple-A level.

Ogasawara will get the call to pitch against Boston in the series finale. The 27-year-old was signed to a two-year by the Nationals, but suffered an oblique injury that has limited him to just 15 innings in the minors. He’s worth keeping an eye on, but there’s some significant fantasky risk in using Ogasawara on Sunday that doesn’t carry as much potential reward.

The injury was originally described by the team as a cramp, but it was obviously a bit more than that. Soroka was due to start Sunday against the Diamondbacks. The Nationals could call up Shinnosuke Ogasawara or someone else to start then or could try to get by with a bullpen day if things go well in their next two games. Jackson Rutledge replaced Soroka on the roster for now.

The 27-year-old Japanese native failed to make the Nationals’ starting rotation out of spring training, but an early injury to DJ Herz means that he’s probably the next man up should the big league club need a starting pitcher. The injury scare to Michael Soroka on Monday night also highlights just how quickly Ogasawara might get a chance. The left-hander is not a hard-thrower and relies on precise command of a deep arsenal in order to get whiffs and soft contact. He probably would not be a recommended streamer outside of NL-only formats.

The Nationals aren’t waiting until the final days of spring training to make major decisions regarding their Opening Day roster, as sending out both Herz and Ogasawara likely means that Mitchell Parker will open the season as the fifth and final starter in the club’s rotation. Nuñez was always a long shot to head north in a reserve role, though he should get a chance with the Nats at some point during the regular season.