Roki Sasaki didn't come to Glendale to be perfect. He came to get adjusted. If you watched his second Cactus League start against the Chicago Cubs, you saw exactly why the Los Angeles Dodgers committed so much energy to landing the 24-year-old phenom. It wasn't because he blew everyone away from the first pitch. It was because he showed the kind of mid-game recalibration that usually takes MLB veterans a decade to master.
Most young pitchers with a triple-digit heater panic when they lose the strike zone. They start aiming the ball. They get "fine." Sasaki did the opposite. After a shaky first inning where his command looked like it was still somewhere over the Pacific, he flipped a switch. That ability to fix a mechanical flaw in real-time is what separates a "thrower" from a "pitcher." For an alternative look, read: this related article.
The First Inning Fireworks for All the Wrong Reasons
The box score for the first frame wasn't pretty. Sasaki struggled with the grip on the slicker MLB baseball, a common hurdle for players transitioning from the NPB's tackier ball. He walked the lead-off hitter on four pitches. His splitter, usually a "trap door" pitch that disappears under the bat, was hanging in the zone.
He looked human. For a guy nicknamed "The Monster of the Reiwa Era," seeing him miss high and arm-side was a jolt to the system. The Cubs took advantage, tagging him for two runs early. The Dodgers dugout didn't look worried, though. Mark Prior, the Dodgers' pitching coach, remained stoic. They knew this was a laboratory, not a Game 7. Similar insight on the subject has been shared by Bleacher Report.
Sasaki's velocity was there. He hit 101 mph on his third pitch of the game. But at this level, 101 mph with no location is just a fast way to get a ball into the bleachers. The real story started in the second inning.
How the Monster Settled Down
The adjustment was subtle but massive. Sasaki shortened his stride slightly and focused on his release point. Suddenly, the 102 mph fastballs weren't just fast; they were painted on the black. He retired six of the next seven batters he faced.
He started using his slider more effectively to set up the high heat. It’s a terrifying sequence for a hitter. When you have to worry about a 91 mph "hard slider" and a 102 mph four-seam fastball, your brain basically short-circuits. By the third inning, the Cubs hitters were late on everything.
Breaking Down the Splitter Adjustment
The splitter is Sasaki's bread and butter. In his first start, it was devastating. In the early part of this second outing, it was flat.
- The Problem: He was getting too much "side-spin" on the ball, causing it to stay in the hitting plane.
- The Fix: He stayed on top of the ball longer, creating that vertical "tumble" that makes hitters look foolish.
- The Result: Three strikeouts in the second and third innings combined, all on the split.
The Mental Game in the Cactus League
Spring Training stats are mostly garbage. They don't tell you if a pitcher is good; they tell you if a pitcher is working on something. Sasaki was clearly working on his secondary stuff when behind in the count. That’s a gutsy move in a stadium filled with fans expecting a perfect performance.
He's dealing with more pressure than any rookie in recent memory, excluding his teammate Shohei Ohtani. Every bullpen session is filmed by fifty cameras. Every missed location is analyzed on social media. Despite that, his heartbeat seems incredibly slow. He doesn't fidget. He doesn't yell into his glove. He just resets and attacks.
Why the Dodgers Rotation Depth Matters Now
The Dodgers didn't sign Sasaki to be the ace on Day 1. With Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the mix, Sasaki has the luxury of being the "third guy." This takes the target off his back. He can afford to have a rocky first inning in March because the team isn't relying on him to carry a weak staff.
However, if he continues this trend of rapid improvement, he won't be the number three for long. His ceiling is higher than almost anyone currently pitching in the National League. We're talking about a guy who threw a 19-strikeout perfect game in Japan. That talent doesn't just disappear because the dirt in Arizona is different.
Practical Realities of the Transition
There’s a lot of talk about the "every six days" vs "every five days" rotation. In Japan, Sasaki pitched once a week. The Dodgers are likely to use a six-man rotation at times to protect his arm and Yamamoto’s. This is the smart play. You don't buy a Ferrari and then drive it across a plow field every day.
You should expect more outings like this one. There will be innings where he looks like he’s never held a baseball before, followed by three innings of absolute dominance. It’s part of the "unlearning" process. He’s unlearning the NPB strike zone and the NPB ball. Once that process is finished, the rest of the league is in serious trouble.
Watch his next start for the "first pitch strike" percentage. That's the metric that matters for him right now. If he gets ahead of hitters, he’s unhittable. If he falls behind, he’s a very talented guy in a tough spot.
Keep an eye on his recovery times between starts. The Dodgers are monitoring his weighted-ball sessions and his sleep metrics with high-tech sensors. If his velocity stays north of 100 mph into the fourth and fifth innings of his next start, the transition is officially ahead of schedule. Grab a seat and enjoy the show, because this kid is the real deal.
