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Roki Sasaki’s season debut: Not a disaster but not good either
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- Roki Sasaki’s season debut: Not a disaster but not good either
Lower expectations, lower them some more, and anything other than an outright disaster will be considered as a victory.
Never mind that Roki Sasaki was possibly the most talented pitcher to ever come out of Japan. Never mind that he was expected to be competing for a Cy Young Award by now.
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Nothing about his season debut on Monday was particularly convincing, but Sasaki pitched four-plus innings without embarrassing himself, and the Dodgers will have to be satisfied with that at the moment.
Sasaki's place in the rotation should be evaluated on a start-by-start basis moving forward, which beats the alternative of having to decide right away whether the 24-year-old should be moved to the bullpen or sent to the minors.
Roki Sasaki was possibly the most talented pitcher to ever come out of Japan. AP
The metaphorical can was kicked down the road in a 4–2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians , and the fact that feels like a victory speaks to how much Sasaki's stock has tumbled.
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Remember, this is the same pitcher who was compared to Paul Skenes at his introductory news conference by Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes .
About the only person who voiced this perspective was Sasaki himself, as he practically went out of his way to remind the fan-boy reporters covering the Dodgers that he shouldn't be celebrated for holding the overly-aggressive and under-talented Guardians to a run over four innings.
"The results weren't satisfactory, but I think I'd like to move forward with the confidence knowing that even though it was bad, it was better than it was in spring training," Sasaki said in Japanese.
Spring training was awful for Sasaki, who posted a 15.58 earned-run average in four exhibition games. He was shaken by the experience, and that affected how he felt entering his start.
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"I didn't have much confidence," he said. "Honestly, I think I was more unsure than anyone."
But compared to last season, Sasaki was better able to hold his velocity throughout camp, and the trend extended into his showdown with the Guardians.
Of the 38 four-seam fastballs he threw, five were 99 mph or faster, 16 were 98 mph or faster and 28 were 97 mph or faster. Against the only batter he faced in the fifth inning, Angel Martinez, he touched 97.9 mph.
Manager Dave Roberts removes Sasaki during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on March 30 in Los Angeles. Getty Images
"If the results improve and I'm able to throw with more confidence, I think I can throw harder," Sasaki said, explaining that in the wake of an exhibition season in which he couldn't throw strikes, he prioritized the placement of his pitches over their velocities.
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Sasaki made effective use of his recently developed cutter, which generated four swings-and-misses. In total, he registered four strikeouts.
"I thought he did a better job of attacking tonight," manager Dave Roberts said.
The positive developments were almost negated by the continuation of some disconcerting patterns. While he walked only two batters, that figure was more of a reflection of the Guardians' lack of plate discipline than of his command.
When he wasn't missing the zone, he was sometimes throwing meatballs for which the Guardians failed to punish him. The only instance in which they did was in the third inning. With a 1–2 count, Sasaki threw a down-the-middle fastball to Austin Hedges , who doubled to right field. Two batters later, he threw a cutter to Steven Kwan that stayed over the heart of the plate. Kwan doubled, Hedges scored and the Guardians went ahead, 1–0.
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Perhaps most problematic was how he has appeared to have lost his feel for his signature forkball. He threw only 28% of them for strikes, and when he missed with the pitch, he missed by a wide margin.
Sasaki pushed back against this observation.
"There are a lot of reasons for that, and I'd like to reflect on that, but I got some strikeouts with it and threw some good ones, so I think I just have to make some minor adjustments," he said.
In showing a measure of defiance, Sasaki at least appeared to have regained a small part of something he lost. After a deflating start in his final exhibition game, Sasaki didn't show any such fight, even saying he would accept a demotion to the minor leagues if the Dodgers believed it would be in his best interest.
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That doesn't mean Sasaki is close to where he wants to be. He's smart enough to know he's a burden to the bullpen, especially with Emmet Sheehan also looking out of sorts and unable to be counted on to eat up innings.
But if Sasaki failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he belongs in the rotation of a team with World Series aspirations, he didn't eliminate himself from consideration either.
The Dodgers will take that — for now.
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