{"id":38984,"date":"2025-04-06T09:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T09:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38984"},"modified":"2025-04-06T09:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T09:58:12","slug":"dodgers-roki-sasaki-admits-tough-stretch-before-discovering-form-vs-phillies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38984","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki admits tough stretch before discovering form vs. Phillies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dodgers rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki shared a strong admission after his epic outing versus the Phillies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Roki<\/figure>\n
Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0pitcher\u00a0Roki Sasaki\u00a0flipped a new switch 10 games into his first MLB season.\u00a0Sasaki improved his mechanics on the mound in defeating the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday.<\/p>\n

But is Sasaki already showing he’s his own worst critic? He\u00a0dropped a telling admission via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic after the 3-1 victory. He admitted his tough stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did go through the week feeling a little anxious,\u201d Sasaki said, via his interpreter Will Ireton.<\/p>\n

That’s not all. Sasaki went \u201csearching,\u201d he admits. What was it he searched for?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was searching for something that I could feel confident about,\u201d Sasaki said.<\/p>\n

He discovered his confidence for the first time in his young MLB career. He bounced back from a rough March 29 evening\u00a0which saw Sasaki’s brutally honest side after. Now he grew confident through each pitch he flamed.<\/p>\n

Other Dodgers react to epic Roki Sasaki outing vs. Phillies\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Los
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dave Roberts lowered his expectations for Sasaki after that Detroit Tigers performance. The manager watched Sasaki’s ERA hit 5.79.<\/p>\n

Roberts found a way to unlock his much-hyped first-year pitcher. He asserted that Sasaki needed to be aggressive with his fastball.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s everything,\u201d Roberts said, via Ardaya. \u201cWhen you\u2019re facing big-league hitters who are very disciplined, they\u2019re going to be patient. I just think that the approach right now, until otherwise shown, they\u2019re going to try to wait him out and force him to be in the hitting zone. If he\u2019s in the strike zone, then you can kind of flip the script a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasaki ultimately adapted to his competition. He fired an array of four-seam and splitter throws at the Phillies. His four-seamer even hit 97 mph. But\u00a0Max Muncy\u00a0shared Sasaki’s splitter left him in awe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe splitter from the side looked like he was throwing (Tyler) Glasnow\u2019s curveball,\u201d Muncy said, per Ardaya. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of movement from the side that it has. I know it\u2019s not the same, but the bottom\u2019s falling out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez sent a message to Dodger fans and critics of Sasaki.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the kid\u2019s going to be more than all right, and he showed that today,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to panic over one or two bad outings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasaki struck out four Philly batters and allowed one run. He pitched through the bottom of the sixth.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dodgers rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki shared a strong admission after his epic outing versus the Phillies. Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0pitcher\u00a0Roki Sasaki\u00a0flipped a new switch 10 games into his… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nDodgers' Roki Sasaki admits tough stretch before discovering form vs. Phillies - 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=38984\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dodgers' Roki Sasaki admits tough stretch before discovering form vs. Phillies - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dodgers rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki shared a strong admission after his epic outing versus the Phillies. 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