Spring Training 2025: Roki Sasaki thrills in Cactus League debut
by Cary Osborne
Judging by the number of cameraphones snapping pictures, Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona was one of America’s tourism hotspots on Tuesday.
And normally the presence of Shohei Ohtani in the Dodgers’ lineup would be cause enough for photo-worthy moments, but Roki Sasaki’s Cactus League debut was arguably more attractive to memory seekers.
Sasaki, one of the greatest talents to ever join Major League Baseball from Japan, was impressive in his first career Spring Training game.
Major League Baseball’s №1 overall prospect struck out five of the 13 batters he faced. He allowed two hits, walked one and hit a batter, shutting out the Cincinnati Reds over three innings in the Dodgers’ 4–2 win.
“It was a mixture of excitement and nervousness, but once I was on the mound, I felt like I was able to focus and was able to pitch,” Sasaki said.
Sasaki landed 26 strikes out of the 46 batters pitches he threw. He threw 10 pitches that registered 98.5 mph or better.
The 23-year-old was heavy four-seamer/splitter and worked in the occasional slider. The splitter, which has an 80-grade on the 20–80 scouting scale by MLB.com, induced eight swings — seven misses. He induced eight total swings and misses.
“Tonight was a big night,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I just think that being under the lights in a big league ballgame, just seeing how he responded — the stuff was really good, obviously got a lot of swing and miss and the fastball played up.”
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Roberts said Sasaki will get in one more Cactus League game before the Dodgers break camp and head to Japan for the season-opening Tokyo Series. They open the Major League season two weeks from today against the Chicago Cubs on March 18.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to start that opener.
He started on Tuesday and went four innings, allowing four hits, on walks and two runs, while striking out three. Yamamoto threw 47 pitches, getting 30 strikes.
Mookie Betts homered in the third inning — his first homer of Cactus League play.
Spring Training 2025: Roki Sasaki thrills in Cactus League debut was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.