The Los Angeles Dodgers have slow-played their main contributors early in Spring Training, as just a handful of everyday position players have taken the field thus far.
The real intrigue lies in the starting rotation, particularly the highly anticipated debut of Roki Sasaki. The 23-year-old has been hard at work in camp, drawing glowing reviews for his electric pitch mix.
Looking ahead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the plan is for Sasaki to start in a Spring Training game at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday or Wednesday. If it’s Tuesday, that will likely amount to Sasaki pitching in a Minor League game due to Blake Snell being scheduled for his Dodgers debut that afternoon.
If the Dodgers decide to have Sasaki make his first start in a Cactus League game on Wednesday, it would come on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Much of Sasaki’s dominance stems from his splitter, a pitch that has the potential to be among the best in Major League Baseball from day one. His first time facing batters only reinforced the high expectations surrounding him.
“I think there’s one thing of being as ready as you can be for his first regular season outing, versus that’s not the end all, be ball,” Roberts said. “To appreciate he’s not a finished product, we’re continuing to build him throughout the season. A handful of starts before Tokyo, and we’ll just see how it goes.
“With Roki, we’re still learning. We really are. As he gets on a routine, a regimen, we’re learning more each day, each week. I do think we’ve got to be able to read and react a little bit with him.”
While there is still much to learn about the young phenom, Sasaki’s raw talent and competitive fire suggest he can hold his own against the game’s best. Roberts’ glowing assessment of Sasaki’s early work indicates the Dodgers may give him ample opportunity to prove himself this season.
Expectations for Roki Sasaki
Roberts spoke on Sasaki’s outlook, and how the Dodgers envision him to learn in his rookie season.
“I think we should be able to expect him to fill up the strike zone, go as hard as he can for as long as he can, to learn from each outing, and after that everything else will take care of itself,” Roberts said.
In 2022, Sasaki pitched 129.1 innings, and in his most recent season, he posted 111.
The Dodgers could put him just past that mark, but as a very young arm, won’t be up for a full Major League workload as a rookie.
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