{"id":38954,"date":"2025-04-06T09:43:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T09:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954"},"modified":"2025-04-06T09:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T09:43:22","slug":"sasaki-silences-phillies-with-sharp-outing-proves-hes-mlb-ready-%f0%9f%92%aa%f0%9f%94%a5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954","title":{"rendered":"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He&#8217;s MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"1537\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1697\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Roki Sasaki pitches against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch on March 11, in Glendale Arizona.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In just his third start of his Major League career,\u00a0Roki Sasaki\u00a0has shown strong improvement compared to his first two outings.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Early Struggles and Adjustments\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Back in Tokyo, Sasaki tossed three innings of one-run ball in his initial debut with the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers. Since coming back to Los Angeles, the Japanese phenom allowed a pair of runs across just 1 \u2154 innings in the team\u2019s final game against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, March 29.<\/p>\n<p>One week later, the 23-year-old proved his capability at Citizens Bank in Saturday\u2019s game against the Phillies. In the Dodgers\u2019 3-1 win, Sasaki held the Phillies to one run on three hits and two walks across over four innings. The right-hander struck out four and exited in the fifth.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the roaring boos through Citizens Bank Park, Sasaki left today\u2019s game feeling much more confident than his previous two starts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like last time around I did want to throw strikes but I couldn\u2019t, so I really worked on the mechanical side of the game\u2026 I was able to do that today,\u201d Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton in an interview with\u00a0SportsNet LA.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Building Confidence &amp; Living Up to Expectations\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With his upper-90s mph fastball and his impressive splitter, the Dodgers were eager to sign the Japanese pitcher straight to the big leagues from Japan. Yet Dodgers manager,\u00a0Dave Roberts, reportedly \u2018knew what he signed up for\u2019 signing a rookie pitcher and skipping over the minor leagues.<\/p>\n<p>The team recognized that Sasaki is still a developing talent with areas that need improvement, but his standout fastball and exceptional splitter made his call to the Major Leagues inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>When asked how his splitter improves when he\u2019s able to throw strikes, the pitcher said, \u201cI also feel like it\u2019s more about my split command\u2026 I felt a lot better about the command of my split, that helped a lot today,\u201d in an interview with\u00a0SportsNet LA.<\/p>\n<p>Since his MLB debut, Sasaki was finally able to drive a fastball to the right locations rather than missing the strike zone. He effectively went after hitters at-bat, setting up his nasty splitter which Roberts had been anticipating since the rookie was signed to the team.<\/p>\n<div id=\"27ab4cb69a799c796109024d4f2442bc\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"lazy-embed lazy-embed--ssr embed-instagram-com lazy-embed--loaded\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DIFbs6kubF_\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DIFbs6kubF_\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=656&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com&amp;rp=%2Fsports%2Fmlb%2Flos-angeles-dodgers%2Fsasaki-impresses-against-phillies-proving-mlb-readiness%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A42007.60000002384%7D\" height=\"950\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe kept his composure, his poise and just kept executing pitches,\u201d Roberts said in a report from the\u00a0LA Times. \u201cJust kind of leaving the outing wanting more, I think that\u2019s a good thing for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His teammates were equally excited to see his level of improvement and boost in confidence just one week after his outing with the Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything is under a microscope right now because of all the hype,\u201d utility player\u00a0Kike Hern\u00e1ndez\u00a0said in a report from the\u00a0LA Times. \u201cBut if it was any other random name who struggled through their first two starts, nobody would be making a big deal out of it. So, I think the kid\u2019s going to be more than all right, and he showed that today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hern\u00e1ndez helped the 3-1 defeat against the Phillies, when he blasted a two-run homer in the second inning.<\/p>\n<p>Describing Sasaki\u2019s performance, third baseman\u00a0Max Muncy\u00a0said, \u201cthat was the guy we were waiting to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old\u2019s standout performance in Saturday\u2019s game silenced any doubts about the Dodgers\u2019 decision to sign the Japanese phenom. It proved to skeptics that he doesn\u2019t need time in the minors to progress his skill before showing off in the Major Leagues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Roki Sasaki pitches against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch on March 11, in Glendale Arizona. In just his third start of his Major League career,\u00a0Roki&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He&#039;s MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 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=38954\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He&#039;s MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Roki Sasaki pitches against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch on March 11, in Glendale Arizona. In just his third start of his Major League career,\u00a0Roki...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954\",\"name\":\"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He's MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg\",\"width\":780,\"height\":439},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He&#8217;s MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He's MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He's MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Roki Sasaki pitches against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch on March 11, in Glendale Arizona. In just his third start of his Major League career,\u00a0Roki...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":780,"height":439,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954","name":"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He's MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-06T09:43:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2204599037-e1743905167767.jpg","width":780,"height":439},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38954#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sasaki SILENCES Phillies with SHARP OUTING, PROVES He&#8217;s MLB-READY \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udd25"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38974,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38954\/revisions\/38974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}