Roki Sasaki earned his first win with the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday despite inclement weather delaying first pitch at Truist Park by more than three hours.
The rookie held the Atlanta Braves to three runs over five innings pitched and matched a career high with four strikeouts on 98 pitches.
Sasaki threw 53 fastballs and registered a career-high five misses, which was up from zero in his previous outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Sasaki admitted that he has not been pleased with his fastball but feels he can still be successful by mixing in other pitches, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“I’m not exactly satisfied with my fastball quality,” Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton. “But mixing in my other pitches, as long as I command my other pitches well, then I feel like I can get major-league hitters out.”
Sasaki took Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) by storm with a powerful fastball that regularly clocked in the triple digits. However, his average velocity has been significantly down since making the jump to MLB.
That’s been a continuation of a trend that emerged during Sasaki’s final season pitching in Japan, and it was an area he asked teams to provide answers to as part of his free agency process.
Sasaki’s four-seam fastball also had the lowest whiff rate in the Majors entering his start against the Braves, and opposing hitters had a .400 slugging percentage against it.
Sasaki has allowed home runs on his fastball in four consecutive starts, but he is still finding ways to limit the damage. The 23-year-old has yielded three or fewer runs while logging at least five innings in four straight outings.
Sasaki is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA, 5.40 FIP and 1.45 WHIP in 30.1 innings across seven starts this season. He will next take the mound on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, his first start on only five days of rest.
Roki Sasaki gaining confidence
After a solid performance against the Pirates, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sasaki is becoming more comfortable every time he takes the mound.
“I think that he’s slowly starting to get some real confidence,” Roberts began.
“I think that he’s certainly throwing a lot more strikes. He’s being a lot more efficient, which is allowing us to let him go deeper into a game. And I think that he understands that his stuff plays here in the hitting zone, or in the big leagues.
“The stuff plays in the strike zone, and he’s just not pitching to the edges as much. I thought there were some good fastball throws tonight. And like I said, I just think he’s just gaining a lot more confidence, and it’s fun to see.”
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