Evaluating Roki Sasaki: Encouraging Signs Hidden Inside Dodgers Collapse

The Dodgers rookie battled through pressure moments and flashed progress before the bullpen unraveled late.

This article was originally published on Dodgersbeat.com.

CHAVEZ RAVINE – Roki Sasaki began his night with a clinical 1-2-3 first inning, though he owed a debt to his left fielder. Teoscar Hernández secured all three outs in the air, including a spectacular diving grab on a ball with an .800 xBA to open the game.

The chatter leading into the start was heavy; with Blake Snell returning from the IL, Roki seemed the likely candidate for the “chopping block” to trim the rotation. However, a difficult decision was deferred when Tyler Glasnow landed on the IL just as Snell was activated.

Early Trouble, Quick Recovery

Rafael Devers stood in the box to open up the second. Roki was unlucky not to walk him because as the count became full, Roki left a hanging 92mph splitter right down the middle that Devers deposited at 102mph with a 26 degree launch angle 401 feet to the center right field seats. Roki dug back in and struck out the side 1-2-3 right thereafter. 

Escaping the Third-Inning Jam 

In inning 3, Roki ran into some trouble walking the leadoff number 9 hitter Jesus Rodriguez. Jung Hoo Lee struck out next, but Arraez, then Schmitt both reached on a single and HBP that left the bases loaded and one out for Rafael Devers. This time Roki attacked with more fastballs, inducing a shallow fly not deep enough for a sacrifice. Ramos lined to Muncy at 3rd for the final out and Roki escaped the bases loaded one out jam unscathed at 56 pitches. The offense was unable to give Roki any run support as Teo’s leadoff double in the 3rd was squandered as Kim, then Shohei grounded out and Mookie struck out. This was Teo’s first time hitting in the 8th spot in 6 years. 

Offensive Breakthrough in the Fourth 

Roki came back in the 4th with a clean 1-2-3 inning, keeping his pitch count at 69. Our boys in blue led off the 4th with three consecutive singles and Max Muncy connected for the 4th single that scored Freeman to tie the game and keep the bases loaded with no outs. Pages grounded into a double play which scored Tucker to take the lead. Teo walked, but Kim struck out to end the inning. 

A Quiet Fifth and Mookie’s Return 

Roki’s fifth started with a great put out by Muncy who is having a career year not just offensively but defensively establishing himself as one of the top 3 defenders in the league at the hot corner. Mookie collected a chopper to Freddie for the second out and Teo collected the Luis Arraez pop out for the clean 5th at 81 pitches, setting Roki up for his second win of the year, first since April 25. Shohei led off the fifth, continuing his slump with a strike out. Mookie got his first hit back from injury from April 4th giving him an opportunity to participate in the new dropkick celebration at first base. Freddie grounded out, Tucker walked but Will struck out to end the 5th. 

Losing the Lead 

Roki started out the 6th roughly as two lead off singles and aggressive baserunning by Schmitt and Devers led to two runners in scoring position with no outs. The bullpen began stirring as Ramos lined a double down the third base line, scoring two and ending Roki’s night at 91 pitches on the hook for the loss with San Francisco’s 3-2 lead. Treinen stepped in with Ramos on second and no outs. San Francisco is a team struggling more offensively than the Dodgers as they enter the game with nearly the worst record in baseball at 16-25. Mookie was able to get a great putout at the plate to prevent a run and Treinen pitched around the trouble for a clean 6th on his slate. 

Muncy Takes Roki Off the Hook 

Muncy continued his hot streak as he sent 1-2 changeup to left center field at 104 mph, 30 degree launch angle, and 396 feet to tie the game. Pages grounded out, but Teo continued his stellar night with a single knocking McDonald out of the game at 101 pitches. Roberts countered the pitching change by inserting Rojas for Hyeseong who grounded out, moving Teo to second but also burned a challenge on a called strike. Shohei came up against the lefty Gage, sporting great splits against lefties, .310 this season, but grounded out weakly to the left side to continue his slump and end the threat in the 6th. 

A Costly Seventh 

Vesia stepped in for the tie game in the 7th striking out Rodrigues, allowing a Jung Hoo Lee single, an Arraez single, and a Schmitt single to load the bases with one out. At least two runs were saved by a stellar sliding block of Schmitt’s single by Teo. Devers worked a bases loaded walk to take the lead and knock Vesia out of the game. Will Klein stepped in to retire Ramos on a three pitch strike out. Unfortunately, he left a 1-2 slider hanging to a struggling Adames who singled to right field and extended the Giants’ lead to 3 runs at 6-3. The Dodgers responded with a quiet bottom of the 7th with Betts, Freeman and Tucker retiring in order. 

A Quiet 8th

Dreyer stepped in for the 8th giving up a leadoff Bader double who was picked off near home after two consecutive groundouts. Dreyer popped up Arraez in foul ground to pitch a clean 8th. Will led off the 8th with a bloop single, but the Dodgers retired quietly in the 8th.

A Difficult 9th for Mills and the offense

Newly acquired side-armer Mills stepped in for the 9th and subsequently gave up 3 leadoff walks followed by an Adames single to make it 7-3. Mills then walked Chapman bases loaded to make it 8-3 with no action stirring in the Dodgers bullpen. Mills got his first out on a sharp Bader liner to Muncy. Rodriguez grounded to Rojas, scoring a run and becoming the second out. Lee was hit by a pitch loading the bases again, but Arraez grounded out to Betts to end the 9th. 

An Ugly Loss

Roki pitched capably leaving the game within striking distance. The usually capable Vesia had an off night as he was tagged with three earned runs and only collecting one out. Mills made a difficult Dodgers debut but the struggling offense has made most games seem out of reach by the 6th inning. Freeman, Teo, Muncy, and Smith looked well with multi hit games but Shohei’s offensive struggles continued. Treinen and Dreyer were solid, but Mills and Vesia shouldered the bulk of the runs as Klein nearly bailed out Vesia in the 7th. The results for Roki so far have trended positive as the unnerving expectations of the earlier starts have stabilized a bit and he looked steady into the 6th. 

Roki’s Post-game comments

Roki explained through his translator that while he felt good through the first round of the lineup, second and third time around he needs to make more improvements to be less predictable. A reporter asked him if he was where he wanted to be and he said he was very far from his expectations, but wanted to build off his postive performance from last post-season.