The Los Angeles Dodgers won the sweepstakes for Rōki Sasaki in the offseason. However, early struggles have not yielded the best results as he tries to make it in Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a $6.5 million signing bonus as an international prospect, and he is earning a rookie salary this year. Sasaki has a 4.72 ERA and has issued 22 walks in eight games. His command does not look great, his velocity is down on average and is still looking to dominate like he did in Japan.
Despite his struggles, manager Dave Roberts has pushed back on sending him to the minor leagues, noting that optioning him is not a thought right now, according to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
“There’s nothing more impactful than going through a particular experience,” Roberts said via The Athletic. “He’s going through some struggles right now. Major League hitters tell you what adjustments you need to make. Coaches can tell you things. He can think some things. But ultimately, you can make adjustments and he will make adjustments given how the hitters respond. I think you learn that by doing that here.”
In Nippon Professional Baseball last season, Sasaki had a 2.35 ERA. He had a 2.46 ERA in four seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines. His velocity was a key factor in his success, but the Dodgers decided to focus on his command rather than velocity.
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“The Dodgers supported Sasaki’s desire to retrain his velocity this spring, ‘but he also felt like it affected his command tremendously in those first couple outings,’ (pitching coach Mark Prior) said,” wrote Ardaya. ‘So it’s something that we made a decision to move away from.'”
Sasaki still has plenty of time to figure things out. However, the Dodgers have World Series aspirations, and if there is a better option available, they may end up changing their mind on optioning him. He is still just 23 years old, adjusting to a new league and country. Yoshinobu Yamamoto also faced early struggles, but has turned into one of the best pitchers in the league.
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