by Cary Osborne
The crowd of Dodger players, coaches and executives was rows deep behind a screen at Camelback Ranch’s Field 1 on Wednesday.
“There were more players behind the plate than I thought (there would be), but I wasn’t really nervous,” said Dodger pitcher Roki Sasaki. “I was just a little surprised to see that many of them there.”
Sasaki threw two simulated innings against Dodger hitters — a 15-pitch first inning and 12-pitch second inning — in what was one of the most-watched Dodger events thus far in Spring Training.
Six-year Major League veteran and non-roster invitee David Bote got a couple of at-bats in against Sasaki. He said this was the biggest group of teammates he had ever seen at a live BP to watch a pitcher.
“I think that’s what I’ve noticed a lot — the support from the group here, support from hitters and pitchers seeing what Roki can do,” Bote said. “And just to come out and do that with that group of people, and to throw a live BP with like 50 people literally right behind you, that takes guts as well. So the fact that he went up and showed really what he’s about and how he can pitch and how he’s going to handle all this is, that’s also a mental side that I think it’s going to be really cool for him to be able to do that with that setting. That speaks volumes.”
Sasaki struck one batter out, allowed a single to outfielder/infielder Tommy Edman and induced a few infield grounders among the hitters he faced.
He threw fastballs, splitters and a few sliders.
“I wasn’t nervous, but facing hitters for the first time, using a Major League ball and pitching sort of in a game environment for the first time in a while, I was just sort of feeling out how that would go,” Sasaki said.
Sasaki said he liked the results better than the first two bullpen he threw in camp.
“Overall, my velocity was better, and having hitters in the box — even though I threw a decent amount of balls — I felt that my command was sort of where I was generally aiming for,” Sasaki said.
Sasaki’s path for this season has been a regular topic at Dodger camp. But the Dodgers have been consistent in their plan to be patient with the 23-year-old right-hander. The Dodgers haven’t publicly committed to a first Cactus League game or what his routine will look like for the regular season.
Manager Dave Roberts said before Sasaki went out on Wednesday that the expectation shouldn’t be Cy Young on the first day of live batting practice.
“I think that there’s one thing of being as ready as you can be for his first regular-season outing, versus that’s not the end all be all and kind of appreciate that he’s not a finished product,” Roberts said. “We’re continuing to build him up throughout the season. So a handful of starts before (Opening Day in) Tokyo, and we’ll just see how it goes. But I think with Roki, we’re still learning. We really are. … And I do think we’ve got to give ourselves (and) him (the ability) to read and react a little bit with him.”
Dodgers camp stories: Roki Sasaki experiences Major League hitters for the first time was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.