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Dodgers' Roki Sasaki: Shaky again in second spring start
Rotowire
Sasaki allowed four runs on two hits and three walks while striking out one batter over two innings in a Cactus League start versus Cleveland on Tuesday.
Sasaki began his outing in disastrous fashion, allowing two walks and a single before serving up a grand slam to Kyle Manzardo. After the Japanese hurler walked the next batter, he was pulled without having recorded an out. Under spring training rules, Sasaki was allowed to re-enter the contest in the second frame and looked infinitely better after his return, retiring the final six batters he faced. Despite the strong finish, this was a second consecutive concerning appearance for the youngster, especially in terms of control -- through two starts, he's thrown just 38 of 81 pitches for strikes while walking five batters across 3.1 innings. Still, manager Dave Roberts suggested after the exhibition that Sasaki isn't in danger of missing out on a rotation spot to begin the campaign, stating, "I think it can change, but I don't think it's going to change before we break (camp). I think that, keep building him up. We see him as a starter and giving him every opportunity for success," per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Roberts added, "I don't think there are concerns. There just has to be continued progression." It sounds like the team is going to give Sasaki a decent amount of runway to work out his struggles and remain in the big-league rotation, though he'll ultimately need to provide much better results to keep that role over the course of the regular season.
Sasaki tossed 1.1 innings against Arizona in a Cactus League game Wednesday, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three batters.
Sasaki made his first appearance this spring and struggled mightily at the outset, allowing three hits (including two doubles) and a walk to the first five batters he faced. That netted the Diamondbacks two runs, but Sasaki was at least able to escape further damage by striking out the final two batters he faced in the frame. The right-hander returned for the second frame and struck out another batter before issuing a free pass and being pulled. While this was far from an encouraging outing for Sasaki, the Japanese hurler stated after the game that his delivery "is coming along nicely" and emphasized that, "It was an exhibition game, so I threw the pitches I wanted to work on," per Dylan Hernandez of the New York Post. Indeed, of the 36 pitches Sasaki threw in the outing, 11 were cutters -- a pitch he's working on adding to his arsenal -- and four were sinkers (a pitch he threw just twice in regular-season action as a rookie). With that said, fantasy managers probably shouldn't read too much into this rough outing, and the expectation remains that Sasaki will open the campaign in Los Angeles' rotation. Ultimately, however, he'll need to display much better results -- especially in terms of control, as he tossed only 17 of those 36 pitches for strikes Wednesday -- to remain a starter all year.
