Roki Sasaki was back on the mound for his second straight start against the San Diego Padres, and they jumped all over him to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in an early deficit.
Sasak allowed two runs in the first inning and four in the second while giving up seven hits and two walks over just three innings total. Given the Padres’ success against Sasaki, the Dodgers are planning to pour over his outing to see whether he was tipping his pitches or if they notice anything else.
“They were on everything Roki threw,” Dodgeres manager Dave Roberts said after the comeback win. “You could see it. Everything. And so we’re going to do a little dive. I don’t know if he was tipping his pitches, but they were on everything. So we’re going to look at that.
“But outside of that, Roki, for me, it’s just keep your confidence up, and he had a great May. So let’s just get back to competing and making pitches.”
Sasaki’s velocity was also down a tick from where it’s been over his last few outings, which could have contributed to the struggles. However, Roberts doesn’t believe that was the issue.
“We’ll probably look at everything, but I really don’t think it’s the fastball velocity, per se,” Roberts said. “I think there’s other variables that are leading to the lack of punch or swing and miss, and also the hard contact.”
Facing the same team in back-to-back outings also requires more of an adjustment than between other starts, but it’s still rare to see that kind of success against a starter and the lack of swing and miss.
“I think some of that, but I just think that they were just on a lot of stuff,” Roberts said. “Yeah, there’s a little bit of adjustment that you need to make, but you look at some of the pitches, that they weren’t good pitches either, so you still got to make good pitches.”
Dalton Rushing, who was behind the plate for Sasaki’s start, didn’t notice tipping during the game, but believes it offers a possible explanation.
“Me personally, at this moment, I’m not sure,” Rushing said. “Nothing that I picked up on too much. I didn’t see too much movement from them at second base, although again, I’m just trying to get him in the zone and let his stuff play to the best of his ability.
“I think it’s something we can go back and look at tomorrow, moving forward. That would be a big explanation as to how it felt like they were on every pitch.”
Roki Sasaki making next start for Dodgers
Although Sasaki has allowed 12 runs over his last 12.2 innings and brought his season ERA up to 5.40, the Dodgers will continue to hand him the ball as one of their starters.
“He’s going to start next week,” Roberts said. “I just don’t think right now we have another alternative, and it’s a good lesson for him to keep going and try to fight through this.”
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