{"id":34437,"date":"2025-03-20T02:10:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T02:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34437"},"modified":"2025-03-20T02:10:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T02:10:29","slug":"dodgers-roki-sasaki-drops-fantastic-truth-bomb-on-making-mlb-debut-in-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34437","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers&#8217; Roki Sasaki drops &#8216;fantastic&#8217; truth bomb on making MLB debut in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-col px-4 pt-4 font-secondary lg:px-0\">\n<p class=\"dek prose mb-2.5 italic text-secondary\">Roki Sasaki loved making his MLB debut in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-row gap-5\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col lg:max-w-[660px]\">\n<div class=\"px-4 pb-5 lg:px-0\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-between gap-4  font-secondary md:items-center \">\n<div class=\"flex-row flex-wrap items-center text-primary\">\n<div class=\"author-link mr-2.5 flex items-center text-sm md:text-nowrap \"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full max-w-full object-contain object-center px-4 lg:px-0\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Roki-Sasaki-drops-fantastic-truth-bomb-on-making-MLB-debut-in-Tokyo-.jpg?w=700\" sizes=\" (max-width: 768px) 600px,  (min-width: 769px) 700px\" srcset=\"\n              https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Roki-Sasaki-drops-fantastic-truth-bomb-on-making-MLB-debut-in-Tokyo-.jpg?w=700 600w,\n              https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Roki-Sasaki-drops-fantastic-truth-bomb-on-making-MLB-debut-in-Tokyo-.jpg?w=700 900w\n            \" alt=\"Roki Sasaki playing baseball with the Dodgers logo next to him. City of Tokyo as the background.\" \/><\/p>\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">The\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0played their first two games of the season in the league&#8217;s first Tokyo Series since 2019. L.A. swept the Chicago Cubs, winning the first match 4-1 on Tuesday, and also earned a 6-3 victory early Wednesday morning. Wednesday&#8217;s contest featured pitching phenom\u00a0Roki Sasaki, who made his MLB debut.<\/p>\n<p>Sasaki, who is from Japan, was given the starting nod against the Cubs. The 23-year-old pitcher was asked about what it was like making his MLB debut in Tokyo, which is the city he was raised in. Roki Sasaki was proud of debuting in his hometown and called the\u00a0atmosphere at the game \u201cfantastic\u201d during the postgame presser.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m so pleased that I could pitch in front of Japanese fans. The atmosphere is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col items-center gap-5 px-5 pb-5\">\n<div class=\"relative w-full overflow-hidden h-auto\">\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?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=1902385095811723398&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fmlb%2Flos-angeles-dodgers%2Fdodgers-news-roki-sasaki-fantastic-truth-bomb-mlb-debut-tokyo&amp;sessionId=5fbd0e245ad55badc4114c5e9603e607fab7ef04&amp;siteScreenName=clutchpoints&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=500px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1902385095811723398\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Dodgers&#8217; No. 1 prospect pitched for three innings, as it was a bit of a rocky start to his career. Sasaki finished the game with a 3.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, and threw strikeouts. However, he also allowed one hit and five walks. Manager Dave Roberts made the call to pull Sasaki off the mound after the third inning.<\/p>\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">Los Angeles utilized six pitchers against Chicago with reliever Landon Knack earning the win. Kirby Yates secured the hold while Alex Vesia recorded the save.<\/p>\n<p>Roki Sasaki will have plenty more opportunities in his rookie season with the Dodgers. Expectations are high, as he&#8217;s not only L.A.&#8217;s top prospect, but he&#8217;s also the No. 1 ranked prospect overall on\u00a0the MLB&#8217;s Top 100 list.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, players in their first year participate in the minor leagues. But Sasaki played for several years in NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) in Japan. It allowed him to enter the MLB through free agency rather than the draft. Additionally, the consensus around Sasaki is that he&#8217;s ready for the majors and should play a major role in the Dodgers&#8217; rotation throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>Roki Sasaki is not the first Japanese pitcher to make his debut with the Dodgers. Last season, Los Angeles acquired and played phenom pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered the MLB similarly to Sasaki.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roki Sasaki loved making his MLB debut in Tokyo. The\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0played their first two games of the season in the league&#8217;s first Tokyo Series since 2019&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dodgers&#039; Roki Sasaki drops &#039;fantastic&#039; truth bomb on making MLB debut in Tokyo - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34437\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dodgers&#039; Roki Sasaki drops &#039;fantastic&#039; truth bomb on making MLB debut in Tokyo - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roki Sasaki loved making his MLB debut in Tokyo. 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