Roki Sasaki continued what’s been an uneven career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as he set a career high in strikeouts but also only completed four innings against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
He exited with the Dodgers trailing 2-1 in their eventual loss that prevented a sweep.
“Pitch count definitely got high today. But I was able to grind through innings and attack the zone, so that was good,” Sasaki said through his interpreter, Kensuke Okubo, on SportsNet LA.
Although the right-hander tied a career high with five walks, he also induced a 38% whiff rate against the Rangers. He was particularly effective with the splitter. Sasaki’s six strikeouts improved on his previous career high of five, set April 5.
“I think I was able to throw it over the plate and also it had good depth,” Sasaki explained.
Roki Sasaki’s goal
Sasaki has now completed five innings or fewer in all three starts this season. It’s a fact not lost on him and one the 24-year-old is looking to change.
“I’ve thrown three games, and the innings are four, four and five, or something like that,” he said. “It’s not that many, so my goal is go deeper in the game a little bit more.”
Despite some of his struggles on Sunday, Dalton Rushing felt Sasaki overall fared well and can easily take a step forward with adjustments.
“I thought he walked a couple guys that he could’ve beat, personally. But it was good to kind of see him bounce back after walking a couple of leadoff guys, and getting some swing and miss,” Rushing said. “I don’t think it was a bad outing at all.
“It’s kind of the same thing. We just have to lean on really attacking hitters a little more and getting ahead. I think that changes the counts for hitters facing him and also gets a little more chase. You see what he did with runners on, getting ahead with the splitter, getting ahead with the cutter, getting more miss on his fastball, getting more miss on his splitter.”
Part of Sasaki holding the Rangers to just two runs was his ability to work out of trouble. Texas went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position against him.
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