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Los Angeles Dodgers upstart Roki Sasaki made a cameo appearance in the 7-3 win against the Detroit Tigers. The young phenom pitched just 1 and 2/3 innings and admitted after the game that he wasn't comfortable with his mechanics.
Sasaki has made two starts in MLB, with both results as no decisions. He owns a 5.79 ERA through 4 and 2/3 innings pitched with five strikeouts. The 23-year-old fireballer was brought over from Japan's NPB tagged as an unfinished piece.
That was evidenced during his unveiling when the young star admitted that he has a long way to go when it comes to development.
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"Overall, I didn't feel like I had a great feel for my mechanics," Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton. (0:22-0:24)
The Dodger rookie owns a three-pitch repertoire that consists of a fastball, a splitter and a slider. He said after the game that he wasn't content on how he delivered his often-used fastball and splitter.
"My slider felt pretty good. But my fastball and splitter, velo-wise and command-wise wasn't there." (0:25-0:31)
The 23-year-old got in a jam early, as he quickly loaded the bases, with Manuel Margot capitalizing and driving in home Zach McKinstry with a single.
After 1 and 2/3 innings skipper Dave Roberts replaced Sasaki with Jack Dreyer. The phenom ended the contest with two earned runs issued on three base hits, four walks and two strikeouts. He also threw just 32 strikes in 61 pitches.
Dodgers remain perfect through five games
Heading into the season, analysts and bookmakers pegged the Los Angeles Dodgers' season win total to around 103. That's due to the fact that even after winning the World Series, the organization went to overdrive during the offseason and amplified the power on both sides of the ball.
Five games into the season, the reigning champions are a perfect 5-0, good for the MLB's best record. That didn't come without obstacles, though, as three of the Dodgers' five wins were of the come-from-behind variety.
Los Angeles started off the season with a sweep of the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs with scorelines of 4-1 and 6-3. They've now also swept the Detroit Tigers in their home opener, including a thrilling extra-time walk-off win against in the middle game of the series.
Tommy Edman is leading the charge for the offense with three home runs on five base hits and four RBIs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' bullpen has been magnificent so far, as they are tied for third-best when it comes to Fangraphs' Win Probability Added at 0.31.
