Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke about the role Roki Sasaki will have during the Dodgers’ National League Championship Series matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Sasaki has taken the postseason by storm, posting 5.1 scoreless innings through the first four postseason appearances of his career. The Dodgers have begun trusting him in high-leverage situations, even sending him out for three innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.
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Roberts, however, doesn’t want to send him out for more than an inning if he can help it.
“Perfect world, one inning, because there’s a cost to two innings or certainly three innings as far as on the backside of that, right?” Roberts said. “But it’s certainly, you know, helped stabilize the pen with leverage. Obviously, our guys have been going through it.
“But I do think in the last week our guys, we’ve seen some good things out of the guys out of the pen, but certainly Roki has been a big part of it.”
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Sasaki has become the Dodgers’ go-to arm out of the pen this postseason, having recorded his first two MLB saves on the road against the Phillies. Since his return at the end of the season, he has come into games in various situations, and has risen to the occasion each time.
“He is ready for whatever we need of him,” Roberts said. “So I haven’t talked to him. I talked to him — I talk to him quite frequently — but whatever is needed of him, he’ll be ready to go. So I’m not worried about the back-to-back.”
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The Dodgers begin their series against the Brewers on Monday, and will look to Blake Snell to give them another quality start in their journey to defending their World Series title. Game 1 begins Monday at 5:08 p.m. PT.
Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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