Roki Sasaki Shines in Best Start of Season vs. Cardinals

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki pitched a quality game against the St. Louis Cardinals, building upon two straight promising starts.

Sasaki is under a microscope as a pitcher who came in with a generational international prospect label, and he has struggled as a starter despite shining as a bullpen arm.

The Japanese righty is on the Dodgers, a team hoping to win their third straight title, which naturally comes with heightened scrutiny.

He has the highest ERA in the rotation, making him stand out even more, though over his last two appearances, Sasaki has begun to show some development.

Sasaki made a total of 104 pitches against the Cardinals, with 65 being strikes. He walked two batters, struck out four, and allowed five hits, one of which was a home run by Jordan Walker.

Walker’s two-run bomb was his biggest miss of the night. He did allow a handful of doubles as well, but for the most part, he kept his command in check and started to gain trust in his fastball.

There was something special that Sasaki did on the night as well; he deployed two variations of his splitter — one, which is a traditional offspeed that he throws harder, around 90 mph, and for more strikes, while he also threw his forball version that is around 86 mph.

For his confidence, Sasaki ideally needs a start where he puts up all zeros to really signal that he has figured things out.

However, for a team that has complete confidence that Sasaki will figure things out, the Dodgers will take his progress where it comes and use it as proof that the starter experiment should indeed continue.

When is Roki Sasaki’s next start?

According to the rotation, Sasaki will pitch again on Saturday, May 9th, back at home against the Atlanta Braves.

It will be an incredibly difficult challenge as the Braves have the best offense in the National League and arguably, the best in baseball. They are in form and will be ready to attack Sasaki.

If he has truly unlocked something, his next outing will show the team and the league that he is finally ready to capitalize on his potential.