To say that Roki Sasaki's rookie season in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers has gone swimmingly would be a lie. Sasaki went through his fair share of injury adversity as he ended up playing in 10 games (starting eight of them) and pitching a total of 36.1 innings in the regular season after he was one of the most hyped-up pitching prospects this past offseason.
But Sasaki is coming into his own at exactly the right time as he starred in relief during the Dodgers' NLDS-clinching 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
On Thursday, runs were at a premium, and Sasaki helped make it that way. Tyler Glasnow was excellent in his start, pitching six shutout innings while striking out eight. However, Glasnow was already at 83 pitches, and he was already dealing with cramps, according to manager Dave Roberts. Emmett Sheehan then came in relief and allowed the Phillies to score their lone run of the game in the seventh inning, even giving Philly a 1-0 lead at that point.
Sasaki then came out of the bullpen in the eighth and locked everything down for the Dodgers. He pitched three no-hit innings and struck out two of the nine batters he faced, proving himself capable of getting outs despite all the pressure that comes with pitching in the postseason.
After the game, Glasnow had nothing but praise for the nascent Dodgers pitcher, who is the latest less-heralded player to take a turn towards stardom in October for a deep LA team.
“It was incredible, for what he went though at the beginning of the year and then pitch some of the nastiest innings I’ve ever seen, it’s incredible. We’ll need him the rest of the postseason,” Glasnow said, via Dodgers Nation on X, formerly Twitter.
Dodgers bullpen needed a major boost, and Roki Sasaki answered the call
Towards the end of the season, the Dodgers bullpen was on life support. Some of the relievers that manager Dave Roberts trusted, such as Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott, just to name a few, struggled immensely. Treinen, in particular, has to be in the doghouse by now, especially when he allowed two runs in Game 2 of the NLDS and nearly blew the game entirely for LA.
This makes Sasaki's emergence as a shutdown bullpen arm that much more encouraging for the Dodgers. Now, they are eight wins away from repeating as World Series champion with either the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs standing in their way of returning to the Fall Classic.
