The Los Angeles Dodgers had their four-game winning streak snapped with a 4-3 walk-off loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday, but a bright spot was Roki Sasaki turning in another solid outing.
The right-hander allowed just two runs on two hits over a career-long six innings pitched. He retired the first six batters faced and was aided by Andy Pages robbing Corey Seager of a home run.
Sasaki’s fastball velocity sat in the low 90s early at the start of his outing, but found more velocity as the night progressed. He sat around 95 mph in the middle innings and at one point touched 97 mph.
Sasaki was surprised with his fastball velocity but noted he made the necessary adjustments to correct the issue, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“I was surprised with the fastball velo in the first inning myself,” Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton. “But I was able to really kind of dig in to what I needed to do and make some mechanical changes.”
Sasaki and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts maintained that the 23-year-old is healthy despite the decrease in fastball velocity:
Both Sasaki and Roberts assured nothing was wrong with Sasaki physically.
While Sasaki’s low fastball velocity in the first inning raised some eyebrows, he quelled any concerns by getting stronger as the outing progressed.
Sasaki’s fastball velocity not only improved as the night went on, but he also pitched into the sixth inning for the first time in his career.
Sasaki’s confidence also seems to be growing as he threw 25 sliders in the outing, which wasn’t far off from a combined total of 34 through his first four starts of the year.
Roki Sasaki’s 2025 season
Through five MLB starts, Sasaki is 0-1 with a 3.20 ERA, 5.16 FIP and 1.48 WHIP in 19.2 innings pitched. He is still looking for his first career MLB win after Kirby Yates surrendered a walk-off home run to Adolis García in the ninth inning.
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