The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the offseason in more ways than one. Not only did they spend a truckload of money after winning the World Series, but they also got the best value deal of the winter by winning the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes. Sasaki, a 23-year-old phenom from Japan, who, thanks to MLB's international free agency rules, was only allowed to sign a minor league deal with a signing bonus.
Sasaki signing with the Dodgers was a frustrating outcome for MLB fans, as the superteam just became that much better. Expectations were for Sasaki to dominate right away given all he accomplished in Japan, but early returns haven't been what MLB fans expected.
The right-hander looked good at times in his Dodgers debut, limiting the Chicago Cubs to just one hit in three innings of work while pitching at the Tokyo Dome, but he also issued five walks, displaying a major lack of command. The Dodgers hoped that his lack of command was due to nerves that came with Sasaki making his first MLB start, but in his first appearance at Dodger Stadium, Sasaki struggled even more to throw strikes, walking four batters before being removed after 1.2 innings of work.
Sasaki needed 41 pitches to get through the first inning. He wound up throwing 61 pitches overall, with only 32 of them being for strikes. As was the case in his first start, Sasaki had trouble throwing his breaking pitches for strikes. MLB hitters have no issue laying those pitches off if the right-hander cannot get them over the plate.
Roki Sasaki's off-speed spray chart from tonight is...not ideal. pic.twitter.com/Yrwq3JJQRr
— Jacob Brownson (@brownsonjacob2) March 30, 2025
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear that he'd like to see more from Sasaki after a second straight underwhelming outing.
“[Sasaki] wants to perform," manager Dave Roberts said. "All he's known is success. And so I think that he's certainly upset, disappointed. But you've got to be a pro and get back to work. … This is all the learning curve, and we've still got a good ballclub, and we're going to need him.”
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Dave Roberts needs to see more from Roki Sasaki after second straight subpar outing
Roberts knows that Sasaki is disappointed in his results and is learning a lot, but he also made it clear that the Dodgers need him. For them to accomplish their goal of going back-to-back, they're going to need Sasaki to learn how to command his pitches better.
Early struggles from Sasaki are understandable, given his need to adjust to pitching on the other side of the world and given the amount of pressure he's facing from the public to be dominant from day one, but the Dodgers do need better than this.
They've managed to go 2-0 in his starts (and 5-0 overall), but it's tough to expect the bullpen to allow just one run in 7.1 innings of work regularly. To be honest, it's tough to expect the bullpen to cover 7.1 innings regularly, regardless.
With the stuff he has, there's reason to believe Sasaki will be just fine once he can locate. Roberts can only hope he can find a way to get his pitches over the plate sooner rather than later.