The Los Angeles Dodgers secured their fifth straight victory to open the 2025 campaign, as they swept the Detroit Tigers out of town with a 7-3 victory on Saturday night. However, they didn't get much from their extremely hyped new starting pitcher Roki Sasaki, as he struggled in his second consecutive outing for the Dodgers.
Making his debut at Dodger Stadium, Sasaki didn't manage to make it very far in the game, as he threw 60 pitches over just 1.2 innings before manager Dave Roberts pulled the plug on him. Sasaki struggled to put hitters away, as he gave up three hits and four walks during his brief outing, but he managed to limit the damage to just two runs. After the game, Sasaki provided a blunt assessment of his second start in the majors.
“Overall, I didn’t feel that I had a good feel for my pitches,” Sasaki said. “My slider felt pretty good. But my fastball-split – velo-wise, command-wise – wasn’t there. … I don’t expect myself to be able to fix everything in a short period of time. That being said, I am going to be pitching every week so I do expect as a major-league pitcher to be able to put up quality outings.’’
Dodgers hoping Roki Sasaki can find his footing
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This is the second start in which Sasaki has struggled with his control, as he only managed to last three innings against the Chicago Cubs in his MLB debut, which came in the second game of the Tokyo Series. Sasaki once again limited the damage, allowing only one run, but so far, the Japanese phenom has not managed to live up to the incredibly high expectations surrounding him.
In a way, that's what should have been expected, as making the jump from Japan to the MLB can be difficult, but when you post a career earned run average of 2.10 like Sasaki did during his time in Japan, expectations are going to be heightened. For now, Sasaki is still finding his way, but Los Angeles has more than enough talent at their disposal to be able to stay afloat as Sasaki endures some early growing pains.
