GLENDALE, Ariz. — Mookie Betts channeled his inner Allen Iverson when asked to assess Roki Sasaki’s performance during Wednesday’s workout.
“It’s practice. Who cares?” Betts said of the young right-hander. “If he shoved, it’d be a story. If he didn’t shove, it’d be a story. No matter what. We’ll see when we start in Tokyo.”
It wasn’t just any practice, however – as evidenced by the large number of interested observers. They crowded together five rows deep behind the protective screen set up behind home plate for Sasaki’s first live batting practice session of the spring.
A couple dozen of his new teammates – including fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto – and a large number of front-office types, including Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes and vice president of player personnel Galen Carrm who laid much of the groundwork that led to the signing of Sasaki this winter, were all there to watch Sasaki face hitters for the first time as a Dodger.
“There were more players behind the plate than I thought, but I wasn’t really nervous,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “I was just a little surprised to see that many people there.”
Sasaki did admit to being a little nervous throwing his first bullpen session earlier in camp.
“Because it was my first time, I was feeling out how things would go,” he said. “But I did feel that today went better than I felt in my bullpens.”
Sasaki pitched two simulated innings, facing Tommy Edman and non-roster invitees David Bote and Eddie Rosario. Sasaki threw mostly fastballs and splitters but mixed in a few sliders.
When a couple dozen reporters surrounded his locker after the workout, Edman joked that not only had he never seen so many people watching a live BP session, “I’ve also never seen this many people asking me to talk about a live BP.”
“I was excited to get in there and see what all his pitches moved like,” Edman said. “He’s got a good fastball obviously, everybody knows about. I was curious to see what his splitter did. It’s got a lot of movement, a lot of action on it.
“His stuff looks really good and I know it’s going to play at this level, for sure.”
Bote said the large crowd of observers made for a “cool” environment on an early spring day. But it also provided an early test of how Sasaki is going to handle all the attention that will come his way this season.
“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,” Bote said. “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 be able to handle all this, that’s also a mental side that I think is going to be really cool for him, to be able to do that with that setting.
“It speaks volumes of who he is as a makeup and character guy. He’s strong. He looks like he’s strong up in the mental side, which I think is going to make him an even better pitcher.”
Sasaki is not expected to pitch in a Cactus League game until early next week. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the team will try to keep the 23-year-old on as close to the “once-a-week” schedule he was used to pitching on in Japan. But Sasaki is likely to start the second game of the Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs.
OUTNUMBERED
Sellouts are expected for both Tokyo Series games between the Dodgers and Cubs at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome. Although the Cubs have Japanese players Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki, the additions of Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki over the past two years have made the Dodgers the most popular MLB team in Japan.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked Tuesday what he thought of the likelihood that his team will be playing in front of so many Japanese Dodgers fans.
“It’s no different than going to Dodger Stadium,” Counsell said. “It’s no different than going to a road stadium when he (Imanaga) was pitching in Japan.
“We enjoy that. I think as competitors we should enjoy that.”
The Cubs will officially be the home team for both games against the Dodgers there.
LID LIFTER
Roberts said Yamamoto will start the Cactus League opener Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs.
Yamamoto is also expected to start the first game against the Cubs in Tokyo.