Roki Sasaki has been more than wild in his first two MLB starts. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Harry How via Getty Images)
The early returns on Roki Sasaki are some impressive pitches and a lot of walks. And two Dodgers wins.
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.
Advertisement
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 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.
Advertisement
Fortunately for the Dodgers, they were equipped to weather a short night from their starting pitcher. The game was tied by the end of the second inning and Los Angeles took the lead in the fifth inning on an RBI double from Teoscar Hernández.
Will Smith and Tommy Edman later homered to expand the Dodgers’ lead, while six relievers struck out nine and allowed only one run across a combined 7 1/3 innings to keep the Tigers at bay in a 7-3 win.
The Dodgers are now 5-0, the first time the defending World Series champions have won their first five games of the season since the 1985 Tigers. Meanwhile, this year’s Detroit team will likely just be happy to get out of Los Angeles after a series sweep in which they led in all three games.
Advertisement
The Dodgers have already had to weather a number of short and inefficient starts from their rotation this season, but their lineup and bullpen have been good enough to cover for them.
Should the Dodgers be concerned about Roki Sasaki?
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 96, 97, 98, whatever it is, if it’s commanded, I just think the split will play up even better. If he can do that, he’s going to be successful.”
Advertisement
So far, Sasaki hasn’t been what you would call successful by Roberts’ standards.
Sasaki remains only 23 years old and he had plenty of reason to be pushing his pitches in his first two starts, playing in his home country in his MLB debut then taking the mound for his first appearance at Dodger Stadium. Still, for a player who entered the season as the favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, he is showing he already has significant work to do.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
