Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki was all that the international scouts proclaimed him to be on Friday night at Dodger Stadium vs. the Los Angeles Angels, with the best start of his career — by far.
Sasaki went seven innings, allowing just two hits and two walks, with 10 strikeouts to boot. He did not allow a single run, with minimal trouble on the basepaths until later on in his outing.
The righty reached a career high in strikeouts, throwing a total of 98 pitches, 72 of which were strikes.
His upturn is special when considering that he has dealt with the pressure of the entire world on his shoulders ever since he came over to the United States, but after a rough rookie year that ended on a positive note, Sasaki has made the most out of the Dodgers’ faith.
Why did Sasaki have success vs. the Angels?
Compared to his season average, Sasaki showed notable confidence in his splitter. He threw it 36% of the time, higher than his 19% season average.
The slider was also thrown more, with a 27% usage rate, up from his average to date of 21%.
His command was good, with a 55% clip of pitches going in the zone. He got a ton of chases, with a 39% rate from an aggressive Angels squad.
Even on the third time through the order, the Angels could not do anything with his splitter, and he kept throwing it no matter what.
Additionally, the fastball velocity was up 1.2 mph on his season average, marking a real point of improvement and a sign of his growing confidence in the heater.
Mechanically, there are just fewer moving parts to his release, allowing him to pull the string on pitches and finish his delivery with extra determination.
As Roki Sasaki continues to build, he is showing that his ceiling is very high and there is a good chance that he becomes a front-of-the-line starter, potentially even an ace if he grows his confidence.
