{"id":33281,"date":"2025-03-15T07:24:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T07:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33281"},"modified":"2025-03-15T07:24:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T07:24:30","slug":"roki-sasaki-reveals-what-he-needs-to-improve-before-dodgers-mlb-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33281","title":{"rendered":"Roki Sasaki Reveals What He Needs to Improve Before Dodgers, MLB Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers had an idea of what they were getting when they signed Roki Sasaki this offseason, and he has been as advertised this spring.<\/p>\n<p>Through two appearances, including one start, Sasaki has struck out seven in his seven innings of work.<\/p>\n<p>However, Sasaki isn\u2019t satisfied with two good outings and thinks he can improve before making his Major League Baseball debut against the Chicago Cubs on March 19 in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=dodgersnation&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1899566644285837789&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fdodgersnation.com%2Froki-sasaki-reveals-what-he-needs-to-improve-before-dodgers-mlb-debut%2F2025%2F03%2F14%2F&amp;sessionId=be96f6dfd362b241d8cf618d723b33b705b5adbb&amp;siteScreenName=dodgersnation&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1899566644285837789\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere are a few more things that didn\u2019t go sort of the way I wanted today,\u201d\u00a0Sasaki said\u00a0after his start against the Guardians. \u201cI reverted to some bad habits that I developed. To have those come out in a game before\u00a0Opening Day, so that I can address them in time, is a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 I think there were just a few things with the way I\u2019m using my lower half, just some inconsistency between the things that I\u2019m trying to do and what was actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Dodgers have slowly been stretching Sasaki out. His first appearance this spring was against the Reds, when he pitched three innings in relief. His second and final Cactus League game was Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians. He started and threw four innings.<\/p>\n<p>Manager\u00a0Dave Roberts\u00a0has noticed an incredible amount of growth in just a short amount of time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs he started to pitch in games, get on a routine, I think the command started to continually get better,\u201d\u00a0Roberts said. \u201cHe was commanding the baseball much better. I think he learned early on that his split plays here as long as he presents it as a strike. There\u2019s swing-and-miss there, and it protects his fastball. So [Tuesday], certainly very efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Up next for Sasaki is hopefully five innings against the Cubs in his home country and he can\u2019t wait that day to arrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously being able to pitch in the major leagues is something that I\u2019ve worked for a long time to be able to do,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers had an idea of what they were getting when they signed Roki Sasaki this offseason, and he has been as advertised this spring&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Roki Sasaki Reveals What He Needs to Improve Before Dodgers, MLB Debut - 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