Roki Sasaki endured a difficult Spring Training, but was able to put together an encouraging start in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.
Entering the game, no one knew what to expect. Even Sasaki was questioning himself.
“I actually didn’t have confidence at all before the game started, but I was just focusing on doing what I can control,” Sasaki said after the game through interpreter Kensuke Okubo.
But the right-hander pitched four-plus innings, allowing only one run on four hits with four strikeouts against two walks. He ran into some trouble in the third, but was able to limit the damage to just one run after retiring José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo to end the inning.
Sasaki didn’t generate many swings-and-misses with his fastball, but it topped out at an impressive 99.5 mph. He also found success with his off-speed pitches, including his new cutter-slider.
“Well I couldn’t get through five innings, but the result as a whole was pretty good, so I kind of got some confidence back after that,” Sasaki said.
Dalton Rushing, who caught Sasaki, felt that his outing against the Guardians was a step in the right direction.
“I think it’s a big step forward, and we’re going to build off this,” Rushing said. “We’re going to sit down and talk tomorrow, obviously, see what we could have done better, find some things, and look forward to having him out there next time.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also believes that Sasaki will benefit in the long term from his quality start against the Guardians.
“I think it should be a big boost to his confidence,” Roberts said. “And I think that he’s being very honest with you guys in the sense of, he’s a confident player, but when you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence.
“So that was certainly an honest admission. But when you perform, then you start to build true confidence. So hopefully he can build on this one.”
Dave Roberts impressed with Roki Sasaki
Roberts was pleased with Sasaki’s body language in the first inning, which he had struggled with at times during Spring Training.
“I thought he had the right intentions,” Roberts began. “He knew that he needed to go after the hitters. And I think he was a wait-and-see kind of demeanor, in the sense of, you know what you’re supposed to do, know what you want to do, and until you actually do it, hold your breath a little bit.
“So I think once he got out of that inning, he was like, ‘Okay, I can do this.’ And then wanted to go out there and keep doing it.”
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