Roki Sasaki has continued to improve in each of his starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he turned in what may have been the most encouraging performance of his career on Saturday.
Although Sasaki’s final line score wasn’t the best it’s been, the excitement comes from the quality of his stuff and his command.
Sasaki averaged 98.5 mph with his fastball, an increase of 1.5 mph from his season average. With that, his slider, splitter and forkball all saw significant increases in their average velocities as well.
“I’ve been making adjustments the last couple of days, and it felt like my velo was going to tick up a little bit, but I didn’t even imagine this much,” Sasaki said through his interpreter.
Sasaki hit 100 mph for the first time this season, doing so twice in the game, with the first at 100.1 mph and the second at 100.4 mph. He also threw another five pitches that would have rounded up to 100 mph on the radar gun.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was surprised to see Sasaki throwing so hard, but attributed it to the work the right-hander has put in.
“I was. I didn’t know where the velocity was going to be,” Roberts said. “But you can see he’s been working hard in the weight room, in his side work. And then you layer the confidence, the conviction, all that stuff. So then you get a really good fastball with really good command.”
Sasaki believes the increase in his velocity is due to the weight room work he’s been doing. Roberts also noted Sasaki has been working with Dodgers strength coach Travis Smith.
“Mechanically, I haven’t changed really that much,” Sasaki said. “But my physical condition is getting better still. I think it’s because of that.”
Early in the season, Sasaki seemed to take two steps back for every step forward. But recently, the progress has been far more encouraging with each start, and the 24-year-old believes everything is starting to come together now.
Aside from increased strength and physical training, Roberts shared that pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness have been working with Sasaki to help him adopt a more “athletic” and less “mechanical” delivery, which has freed him up mentally.
“It’s great, because I think that early this season, after every throw, he was looking at the radar gun to see what the velocity was,” Roberts said. “Now there’s just a confidence that the throw is good, the feel is good, and that’s his validation. He doesn’t need to search for velocity or chase velocity. So he’s in a really good spot.”
Dave Roberts sees high ceiling for Roki Sasaki
With Sasaki’s increased velocity and his recently introduced hard splitter to pair with his forkball, along with his improving command, Sasaki has all the makings of a frontline starter.
The Dodgers knew Sasaki would be an investment for their future, and they exercised patience with him. Now they’re starting to see the potential turn into real results.
“I mean, then it gets into a new category of a real Major League starter for a championship team,” Roberts said. “We talked this afternoon about how he still hasn’t had a lot of professional innings, let alone Major League innings, but what he’s doing right now, I think, is sustainable.”
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