Roki Sasaki made his highly-anticipated debut during the second game of the Tokyo Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs to complete the sweep.
Sasaki came out with a perfect first inning, which also included his first career strikeout. His fastball topped out at 101 mph and his splitter looked unhittable.
Things weren’t as clean in the second inning as Sasaki walked two hitters, but escaped the inning without a run scoring as Pete Crow-Armstrong lined into a double play.
Those command issues carried into the third inning as Sasaki allowed a single and then walked three straight hitters, which put the Cubs on the board. He was able to limit the damage by striking out the next two hitters, but the command issues forced him out of the game after just three innings.
While it wasn’t a start that dazzled, Sasaki’s outing was overall successful and provided him with a path to improve in his next outings.
“I felt good about the things I’ve been working on through Spring Training,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “Even though my command went awry at times during the game, I felt good about my mechanics and my delivery. I just want to make sure I can repeat it better moving forward.”
The most encouraging part of his outing was the fastball velocity. Sasaki made it a focus to improve on that after seeing a significant drop during his final season in Nippon Professional Baseball.
“On my velocity, I felt good warming up and about my mechanics, so that was a good thing,” Sasaki said.
The biggest thing for Sasaki moving forward is repeating his mechanics. While they started out in a good spot, he wasn’t able to keep that throughout the game.
“On my command, there were some things that felt off,” Sasaki said. “I thought the first inning went really well. It’s a feeling I hadn’t had in a little while, so I just want to make sure I can feel that again.”
But even as Sasaki dealt with those challenges, he found some positives in the struggles, particularly with his best pitch.
“I struggled with the command of my splitter,” Sasaki said. “That wasn’t something I had issues with in my Spring Training outings, so in some ways it was good to have that issue come up today.”
As he looks to improve upon his debut outing, Sasaki will pay close attention to his fastball and splitter and how they play up against MLB hitters. “There will be issues that come up from that, so I want to be in a position where I can address those as early as possible.”
Roki Sasaki reflects on MLB debut
Sasaki had the benefit of making his MLB debut in his home country, which could have both provided comfort while also adding to the nerves of wanting to impress.
“It was a good nervousness,” Sasaki said. “I think it was a really excellent environment created by the Japanese fans and an environment that’s unique to Japan. I think it will be very different from what it will be like in the United States.
“So I think it was a really good thing to be able to pitch in front of the fans here in Japan.”
Sasaki also added it is difficult to say how pitching in the Majors felt compared to his previous experiences in the NPB because he was still in Japan.
“It almost felt like pitching in my home ballpark,” Sasaki said. “The fact I was able to pitch in a really good atmosphere and against really good Major League hitters was a really good experience.”
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
