The early returns on Roki Sasaki are some impressive pitches and a lot of walks.
The Los Angeles Dodgers rookie posted another short start in his Dodger Stadium debut Saturday, exiting after 1 2/3 innings with three hits and two earned runs allowed plus four walks and two strikeouts. He threw 61 pitches in less than two innings of work, with only 32 strikes.
Sasaki's lack of command was apparent from the first batter. He missed the strike zone by more than a foot on his first two fastballs to Detroit Tigers leadoff hitter Zach McKinstry before allowing a single, then proceeded to load the bases before allowing runs on a single from Manuel Margot and a walk of Trey Sweeney.
He did get his first Dodger Stadium strikeout in the process, though.
The first Dodger Stadium strikeout for Roki Sasaki ✅ pic.twitter.com/lnLZZsJBxk
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2025
The second inning wasn't much better. Sasaki walked two more batters and was pulled with two men on and two outs, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts bringing in another rookie in Jack Dreyer to end the inning.
Through two career starts, Sasaki has now walked nine in 4 2/3 innings of work. He avoided disaster in his first start against the Chicago Cubs in the Japan Series by allowing only one hit, but the Tigers had more success putting bat to ball. With a high-90s fastball and perhaps the best splitter in the world, Sasaki has elite stuff, but so far his execution has been lacking.
Control wasn't a significant issue for Sasaki in his Japanese career, averaging 2.0 walks per nine innings for the Chiba Lotte Marines. This is a Dodgers problem, and one that Roberts speculated could be due to overthrowing before the game Saturday:
"There were times when there was an overthrow in there. That's when a pitcher loses a ball arm-side. It's a little bit of coming out of your delivery, a little overthrow, so honestly, for me, I just want the ball commanded. I want the fastball commanded. If it's ...
