To say Roki Sasaki's spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers has been underwhelming might actually put it kindly.
After opting against competing in the World Baseball Classic to focus on recapturing his starting legs after an October coming off the bench as the Dodgers' surprise closer, Sasaki has been hammered early and often during the preseason, with skipper Dave Roberts having to pull his 24-year-old starter early on multiple occasions after pitching himself into a jam.
Before the team's Freeway Series showdown against the Angels, Dave Roberts laid out his plans for the young pitcher to reporters like California Post's Jack Harris, noting he wanted to use the game as almost a trial run for the regular season.
“Dave Roberts said he wanted to see Roki Sasaki in ‘compete mode' tonight & attacking the strike zone,” Harris shared. “Instead, he hit his first batter, walked the bases loaded, then walked in a run … all without recording an out yet (TBF, his defense didn't help on the one grounder he did get).”
Unfortunately for Roberts, Sasaki's night fell into his now-usual pattern, with the skipper having to take the ball from his hands after getting into a jam worsened by poor ball placement with the bases loaded.
“And after another bases-loaded walk, Dave Roberts is out to get Roki Sasaki –– after just 13 strikes in 30 pitches,” Harris wrote. “He'll likely re-enter for the second, but it's yet another inning this spring he couldn't complete bc of bad command/high pitch count. Worrying to say the least.”
Landing in Los Angeles after a heated bidding war as an international free agent, Sasaki's inability to get himself out of innings has been concerning, especially since managers can't put a pitcher back into a game after taking them out in the same way they could in the Cactus League. With Sasaki already named a starter by Roberts for Game 4 of the season, he will have to show he can get the job done in the regular season, otherwise Justin Wrobleski may have to come off the bench early and place the second-year arm's long-term spot in the starting lineup into question.
