Recently, Roki Sasaki has been showing signs of improvement on the mound.
This past Sunday at Angel Stadium, his efforts finally paid off with a notable performance.
Sasaki pitched seven innings and allowed just one run, helping the Dodgers achieve a 10-1 victory over the Angels. This win contributed to a sweeping success in their three-game Freeway Series, marking the best start of his career in Major League Baseball.
The 24-year-old made history as the first major leaguer to pitch more than six innings this season, striking out eight batters and not allowing any walks, which is quite an accomplishment for a starting pitcher.
Sure, dominating the struggling Angels lately feels a bit like easily winning a game against your younger sibling. Not much of a feat when their offense is struggling.
However, Sasaki’s performance indicates he’s making strides in the right direction.
He was efficient, throwing 69 out of 91 pitches for strikes, and limited hard contact after a previous stretch where he allowed home runs in six consecutive games. When it came time to finish off batters, he did so confidently with a well-executed pitch plan.
Having a strong lead certainly helped; the Dodgers (29-18) scored two runs in the second inning and then exploded with five runs in the fourth.
For a team dealing with several pitching injuries and searching for reliable starters, Sasaki’s progress is encouraging.
What it means
Perhaps for the first time since his arrival from Japan last year, Sasaki appeared to be a dependable big league starter.
And given the Dodgers’ current injury woes among key pitchers, that’s a timely development.
Not too long ago, there were questions about his spot in the rotation. But the recent injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell might open a door for him to build on this success.
A big challenge going forward will be maintaining the efficiency he showcased against the Angels. Remarkably, he never threw more than 20 pitches in any inning, registered 19 of 24 first-pitch strikes, and faced very few batters in the last three innings after allowing a solitary run.
Who is hot
Sasaki’s resurgence, including six innings pitched in each of his last three starts, can be attributed to two primary factors.
First, his fastball placement has been spot on; on Sunday, he threw it in the zone over 80% of the time.
Second, he introduced a new splitter to complement his well-known forkball, adding unpredictability and excitement to his pitching style.
Against the Angels, he recorded 18 swinging strikes—more than any MLB pitcher has achieved previously—and made batters chase pitches out of the strike zone 40% of the time.
Of course, it’s tough to say if this performance stemmed from his skill or simply the fact that he faced a lackluster Angels squad, which is currently struggling with a poor record of 5-21.
Interestingly, he also became the first Dodgers pitcher, aside from Shohei Ohtani, to pitch seven innings while allowing two runs or fewer since Glasnow did it on April 23.
Who is not?
The Angels had high hopes for Grayson Rodriguez when they traded for him in the offseason, but in his long-awaited debut, he struggled against the powerful Dodgers lineup.
A pivotal moment arrived during the fourth inning when Kim Hye-sung’s groundout to second allowed the inning to continue, which proved costly.
This led to a two-run single by Ohtani, who had three hits in five at-bats, followed by a walk for Freddie Freeman, a two-run single from Andy Pages, and finally, after Rodriguez was ejected, an RBI single by Kyle Tucker, who finished with three hits and three RBIs.
With all that, the Dodgers maintained a solid 7-0 lead.
Sasaki’s impressive outing should definitely be viewed positively.
To the next
The Dodgers reignited their rivalry with the Padres on Monday in San Diego, starting the series with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-3, 3.60 ERA) on the mound, while holding a one-game lead in the National League West standings, depending on the outcome of the Padres versus Mariners game on Sunday.
