Dodgers Roki Sasaki Impresses During First Spring Training Outing

We are just days from the start of the 2025 MLB season. And fans and teams are starting to get a better idea of which players will make the official roster and lineup. In fact, one new Los Angeles acquisition put on a show and helped to cement his spot (although, due to scouting reports there was not much doubt). The Dodgers Roki Sasaki impresses during his first Spring Training outing, torching batters for three innings.

Sasaki had a deadly four pitch arsenal. A relentless “I made you look” fastball and an extremely nasty splitter that had batters off balanced and unsure whether to swing. During his Tuesday outing, the MLB’s number one prospect tops out at 99.3 mph and gets whiffs on 47.1 percent of swings.

This is of course, a small sample size. But Roki looked calm, comfy and right at home pitching on the mound. There had been some speculation and wonderment as to how Sasaki would fare against MLB players. However, Tuesday’s performance and showing demonstrates that the lights so far are not too bright for him.

Sasaki signed with the Dodgers for a $6.5 million bonus in January — a fraction of what he would have earned had he waited two more years and come to Major League Baseball as an international free agent. Since his arrival to the blue men, he has got to straight to work in the Dodgers pitching lab. Fine tuning his mechanics, especially his fastball.

Manager Dave Roberts likes what he sees from Sasaki thus far and feels like he will be able to handle any further challenges and MLB pressure. Roberts states,

“We’re going to continue to learn more from Roki. And obviously he’s pitched in a lot of big games in his career, but you’re also in an environment where he’s comfortable. This is something that’s all new to him. And so he’s learning on the fly and we’re asking a lot of him, but there’s a lot of confidence supporting him.”

Dodgers Roki Sasaki Impresses During First Spring Training Outing

Most likely, we will get to see plenty of Roki as time goes by. Roki Sasaki truly shined (3 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB) in his Cactus League debut against the Reds. Furthermore, Sasaki himself felt good about his pitching and the efforts he has put forth to develop his craft.

After his three inning appearance came to an end, Roki expressed to the media through an interpreter, “Today’s the fruit of all the hard work that I put in during the offseason and the first part of spring training. I did feel really good about being able to jam some hitters and as long as I throw quality pitches, I should be able to get these guys out.” Sasaki seems confident, looking forward to seeing him hurling more in the future.

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