PHOENIX — After eight largely underwhelming starts, it’s obvious that Roki Sasaki is – as the Dodgers asserted when they signed him last winter – not a finished product.
But whatever development the 23-year-old right-hander needs will have to be made at the major-league level. The Dodgers have no intention of sending him to the minors to work on the improvements they acknowledge he needs to make.
“I don’t think that a minor-league stint is in any of our minds right now,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I do think that this learning up here is very, very valuable.”
Roberts equated Sasaki’s struggles to “a finishing school” and said it was something the Dodgers were “prepared for” in Sasaki’s rookie year. Through eight starts, he has a 4.72 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and, perhaps most disappointing, only 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
“There’s nothing more impactful than going through a particular experience. He’s going through some struggles right now,” Roberts said. “Major-league hitters tell you what adjustments you need to make. Coaches can tell you things. He can think some things. But ultimately … you can make adjustments and he will make adjustments given how the hitters respond. I think you learn that by doing that here.”
Most puzzling in Sasaki’s rookie season is the diminished velocity and lack of effectiveness of his fastball. Renowned for touching 102 mph in Japan, that high-end velocity has been seen only briefly as a Dodger (in the first inning of his MLB debut in Tokyo). He has averaged 96 mph on his four-seam fastball with fluctuations like Friday when he averaged just 94.9 mph against the Diamondbacks and did not get a single swing-and-miss with the pitch.
Sasaki has expressed his own concern about his fastball. During his recruiting visits last winter, he asked teams to explain the drop in his velocity last season. After his start Friday, he acknowledged that he and the Dodgers’ coaches are “really still in this process of finding out what the root cause (is).”
Roberts said he is less concerned about the diminished velocity and is “more concerned about the command.”
“Because if you don’t have velocity when you’re talking 98, 99 (mph), then command becomes more of a priority,” Roberts said. “When you’re throwing mid-90s, 94, then you have to really command the baseball. So that’s what we’re going to work on as a group. Roki understands that. And this is still his first season here, so there has to be some grace, as he’s kind of learning this league and kind of getting his footing.”
OHTANI WORK
Right-hander Shohei Ohtani threw his weekly bullpen session Saturday with one new addition. His 35 pitches were split up (20 and 15) over two simulated innings with a break in between.
“I thought he threw the baseball well,” said Roberts, who observed the session in the visitors’ bullpen at Chase Field. “I still don’t know what the next progression is, but as of today, today was a good day for Shohei.”
Ohtani still has not incorporated his slider into his throwing sessions and won’t face hitters until he does. But he has touched 95 mph during these bullpen sessions and Roberts acknowledged he can’t help but start imagining Ohtani on the mound in games for the Dodgers when he watches these throwing sessions.
“I’m trying to temper it, because I know that we’re being very methodical with this – clearly,” Roberts said. “But yeah, when you see the arm and see what he can do, you sort of – I put my head in the place of how he can help us right now. But (I’m) trying to be patient.”
RING CEREMONY
Retiree Daniel Hudson visited the Dodgers at Chase Field Saturday and was presented with his 2024 World Series ring and the special gold jerseys the Dodgers wore for the ring ceremony at Dodger Stadium.
“I’m not going to take it off for 24 hours, then it’s going in the safe,” said Hudson, who also won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.
“We came into last year with such high expectations. Thankfully, we were able to meet those expectations. Just a very, very fun group to be a part of. I’m just very blessed to have been asked to come back and be a part of it. Going into the previous offseason, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play again. To decide that I was going to give it another shot and to go out a World Series champion is pretty special.”
COMING/GOING
Right-hander Yoendrys Gomez was claimed on waivers by the Chicago White Sox. Gomez was designated for assignment by the Dodgers after three appearances.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers signed veteran reliever Lou Trivino to a minor-league contract. Trivino, 33, was designated for assignment after posting a 5.84 ERA in 11 appearances with the San Francisco Giants this season. He cleared waivers and became a free agent.
Trivino was an effective reliever for the A’s from 2018 through 2022 when they traded him to the New York Yankees at the July deadline. He had a 3.86 ERA and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings for the A’s and Yankees. He missed all of 2023 and made just 11 minor-league appearances in 2024 after Tommy John surgery and some elbow and shoulder issues that slowed his rehab.
He signed a minor-league deal with the Giants and made their roster based on a strong spring training, but gave up 11 hits, including four home runs in 12 ⅓ innings before being cut loose.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin 1-0, 4.09 ERA) at Diamondbacks (RHP Zac Gallen, 3-4, 4.37 ERA), Sunday 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM