GLENDALE, Ariz. — For the first time in a Dodgers uniform, 23-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki threw to hitters Wednesday in front of a gigantic crowd of spectators, the likes of which rarely gather for such a routine component of baseball’s spring practice sessions.
A year ago, it was Shohei Ohtani’s first live batting practice that had Camelback Ranch buzzing, as eager fans filling the backfields got their first glimpses of the superstar in action wearing Dodger blue. Should Ohtani face hitters as a pitcher this spring as part of his progression back from elbow surgery, that might usurp Sasaki’s inaugural live batting practice as the highlight of Los Angeles’ spring training. But as of now, Sasaki’s first chance to face hitters represents the high-water mark for intrigue in Dodgers camp.
There was some extra anticipation Wednesday after the team’s daily workout agenda listed Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy as two of the hitters scheduled to face Sasaki, but his foes ended up being Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, plus two veteran non-roster invitees in Eddie Rosario and David Bote. Sasaki threw 27 pitches across two simulated innings, totaling nine plate appearances from the four opposing batters. He struck Bote out looking with a fastball and coaxed a couple of ugly whiffs from Rosario on the splitter. Along the way, he allowed some hard contact to Bote and Edman.
On the whole, the results were unremarkable in either direction, but Sasaki was encouraged about how it went, particularly relative to his first spring training bullpen several days prior.
“I wasn’t nervous, but facing hitters for the first time using a major-league ball and pitching sort of in a game environment for the first time in a while, I was just sort of feeling out how it would go and getting used to being back in the flow of the game,” Sasaki said afterward through an interpreter.
Although Sasaki didn’t know where his velocity was exactly, he said he thought he threw harder Wednesday than he had during his bullpen, and he said it was helpful to step onto a mound with a real, live opponent in front of him.
“Having hitters in the box, even though I threw a decent amount of balls, I felt that my command was sort of where I was generally aiming for,” he said.
Sasaki leaned heavily on his highly touted fastball-splitter combo Wednesday, but he mixed in a slider as well. For as dominant as his heater and splitter both were during his NPB career, the progression of his slider will be pivotal to his development as he makes the transition to MLB. As high-octane aces such as Spencer Strider and new teammate Tyler Glasnow have demonstrated in recent years, it’s not impossible to succeed as a starter with two pitches if the two pitches are that good.
But for Sasaki to reach his full potential, an expansion of his arsenal via increased slider usage will likely be necessary — and he’s committed to pursuing such a change.
On the mound, there is plenty of room for improvement for the young pitcher. Off of it, Sasaki is still learning what it means to be a main character on the team that manager Dave Roberts has repeatedly referred to as “the epicenter of baseball,” while simultaneously adjusting to a new culture and country and the daily responsibilities of being a big-league pitcher. It surely helps to have two fellow countrymen whose lockers sandwich Sasaki’s in the Dodgers clubhouse: Ohtani, who has managed the pressure and expectations of being the sport’s biggest celebrity for nearly a decade, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who made the leap from NPB to MLB a year ago at a relatively young age.
“From the first day of camp, they’ve been really helpful in guiding me through all the things that I don’t know about,” Sasaki said. “And as games start, there will be more and more things that I don’t know about, so being able to talk to them about those things will be really helpful.”
While the Dodgers’ loaded depth chart should, in theory, ease the pressure on Sasaki to perform like an ace right away, the hype surrounding his rookie season won’t ease up anytime soon. As such, each step toward his big-league debut will be met with increasing scrutiny and curiosity.
On Wednesday, Sasaki managed to keep his focus between the mound and his catcher, Will Smith, despite the staggering number of attendees on and around the field who had flocked to see him pitch. Hundreds of fans filled the grass behind the chainlink backstop of the Dodgers’ backfield, with many jockeying for position to capture photos or videos of Sasaki unleashing a pitch. Dozens of teammates, including Ohtani, Yamamoto and Blake Snell, stood behind home plate alongside a gaggle of high-ranking front office members, including Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes, for an up-close view of Sasaki’s earliest throws. Down the left-field line, Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, watched from afar as his celebrated client made his first competitive pitches as a Dodger.
Bote said he’d never seen that many people — fans and/or members of an organization — gather to watch a couple of simulated innings in February. But he saw the crowd behind the netting as evidence that Sasaki’s teammates are not merely curious to see him pitch; they’re also eager to help him succeed.
“The cool part, too, is all the teammates … the support from the group here, hitters, pitchers, seeing what Roki can do,” Bote said. “To come out and do that with that group of people, and to throw a live BP with 50 people literally right behind you — that takes guts.”
It was unquestionably an unusual amount of attention for a common element of spring practice — and that extended into the clubhouse after the workout.
“I’ve also never seen this many people here to see me talk about a live BP,” an amused Edman said. “It was definitely a fun environment. Everybody’s excited to watch it.
“I’m excited to play behind him in some games this year.”
