The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Roki Sasaki with the understanding that while he possesses off-the-charts raw talent, he still needs refinement to reach his full potential.
One of Sasaki’s key issues during his final season in Nippon Professional Baseball was a drop in velocity, which made his fastball less effective.
Sasaki himself recognized the need for growth, and his declining fastball velocity was a key discussion point in his meetings with MLB teams. Ultimately, he believed the Dodgers offered the best opportunity for him to continue developing, which played a major role in his decision to sign.
After signing his deal, Sasaki wasted no time getting to work at Camelback Ranch, utilizing “The Lab,” the Dodgers’ state-of-the-art training facility at their Arizona complex, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I really worked hard in The Lab, dug into the mechanical aspect of my form and things I do well and things I wasn’t doing well,” he said, referring to the high-tech indoor training facility at Camelback Ranch that measures pitch characteristics and biomechanics. “I was able to really work on things I wanted to and felt I had a good foundation.
“There’s a few things I was working on during the offseason then coming into camp and working with the pitching coaches, going into some deep dive of what I want to work on – I think today was the fruit of all the hard work that I was able to put in during the offseason and the first part of the spring camp.”
That work paid off in Sasaki’s Cactus League debut, as his fastball velocity ticked back up to a range closer to where it was when he had his greatest success in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Sasaki averaged 98.3 mph on his fastball in his start against the Cincinnati Reds, an improvement over the 96.8 mph he averaged in 2024 and much closer to the 98.8 mph he posted in 2023.
Even with a decline in his velocity last year, Sasaki still went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 111 innings for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He finished his career in Japan with a 30-15 record and a 2.02 ERA across four seasons.
Roki Sasaki favorite to win Rookie of the Year
Even though Sasaki has been playing professional baseball since 2021, he is still classified as a rookie ahead of the 2025 season. He is also the leading candidate to win the National League Rookie of the Year, which would make him the third starting pitcher since 2014 to do so.
Prior to Sasaki’s official decision to join the Dodgers, an overwhelming majority of MLB executives predicted the right-hander would win a Rookie of the Year Award.
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