Roki Sasaki emerged as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most trusted reliever in the playoffs after missing most of the regular season with a right shoulder impingement.
In nine postseason appearances, Sasaki allowed just one run on six hits while collecting six strikeouts across 10.2 innings pitched.
The stretch included Sasaki making MLB history as the first pitcher to record the first two saves of his career in the postseason.
Then with his performance against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, he became the first pitcher to log perfect eighth, ninth and 10th innings of a series-clinching win.
“I like how much he’s confident when he comes out of the ‘pen to close games,” Blake Snell recently said of Sasaki. “He’s throwing strikes, he’s attacking. He’s fearless. It’s a different Roki.
“The starter Roki was more cautious and a little nervous, from what I could see. And he has such good stuff, but he was just nervous of what the hitter could do. Now he’s going out there, he’s more confident in what he can do, and that’s so much fun to watch. And the team’s really behind him and pushing, and he’s coming out just extremely confident.
“It’s so much fun to watch him pitch that way.”
Sasaki struggled for the majority of his stint as a starter, which can be attributed to some growing pains that came with making the jump to MLB and a drop in his average fastball velocity.
However, since returning to the Dodgers in late September, Sasaki has looked more like the pitcher who took Nippon Professional Baseball by storm.
The 23-year-old has played a key role in the Dodgers winning the World Series for a second consecutive year even if some of his effectiveness began to wane.
Roki Sasaki’s entrance song
Sasaki becoming a relief pitcher was accompanied by a new entrance song, with “Bailalo Rocky” becoming the choice thanks in large part to Miguel Rojas.
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