Dodgers' Roki Sasaki: Posts uneven spring start

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Sasaki gave up three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five batters over 3.1 innings in a Cactus League outing against Kansas City on Tuesday.

Sasaki struck out two of the first three batters he faced and got through two frames without being scored upon. In the third, he fanned the first batter of the inning but then walked three straight before being pulled. Under spring training rules, Sasaki was allowed to return for the fourth and faced two batters (giving up one hit), before coming back out for the fifth and yielding a double to end his day for good. Overall, the right-hander threw just 38 of 71 pitches for strikes, and he's now walked a whopping nine batters over just 6.2 spring frames. Sasaki said after the game that the loss of command in the third inning was caused by him trying to work on his sinker, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, but his lack of control during the spring slate is somewhat alarming. Still, manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that Sasaki "is going to be one of our starters" to begin the regular season, according to Ardaya, so it sounds like the Dodgers are going to at least give the Japanese hurler a chance to show that his results in Cactus League action aren't representative of the campaign that lies ahead of him.