A lot of the attention in this Spring Training is on Roki Sasaki, as he seeks to find his best version to earn a spot in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ rotation-though his performances aren’t inspiring much confidence among the fans of the MLB back-to-back champions.
This Tuesday, the Japanese pitcher had his second start of the preseason. After only pitching 1.1 innings in his first outing-where he received heavy criticism from scouts-he completed just two innings against the Cleveland Guardians.
No concern for Dave Roberts
The team’s manager, Dave Roberts, doesn’t agree that Roki Sasaki is at risk of losing a projected rotation spot, according to what Jack Harris of the California Post reports.
“Well, there’s really no concerns. I don’t think there’s concerns. I just think there has to be continued progression. I do appreciate that he’s more open this year. He is voicing his thoughts, which I think is great. But I do think that he still needs to be coached. And he still needs to get those experiences. I think really, there’s no concern. And just continuing to try to get better each time out,” commented Dave Roberts.
In his first Spring Training start, Roki Sasaki allowed four of the first five batters to reach base, helping the Arizona Diamondbacks jump to a 3-0 lead. In the second, he gave up a grand slam without retiring any of the first five batters he faced.
It’s logical that there’s concern about this. A Major League pitcher-especially one on the Los Angeles Dodgers-can’t show these kinds of weaknesses.
Roki Sasaki revealed that his difficulties were due to problems with his mechanics against the Cleveland Guardians.
“I felt something a little off, but I couldn’t realize what it was until the inning was over,” Sasaki said through his interpreter on SportsNet LA. “It was actually my upper body,” Sasaki added. “My lower half actually felt pretty good. My upper body felt a little off, so I was trying to make an adjustment.”
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