LOS ANGELES – From highly touted arrival to Roki sensation, the Dodgers are only now receiving top results from their newest Japanese star.
Roki Sasaki has settled into the closer role well for a team that has endured bullpen anxiety this season. Sasaki, who started the year as the starter, entered Friday’s Game 4 series victory for the Dodgers with a 1.29 ERA and three saves in as many opportunities in six relief appearances this postseason. He recorded the final three outs in a no-save situation to send the Dodgers back to the World Series.
The Dodgers began grooming Sasaki for the role upon his return in late September after 4.5 months on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement.
As a starter, the 23-year-old Sasaki pitched to a 4.72 ERA in eight appearances.
Sasaki’s first start at Dodger Stadium in March was memorable, but for the wrong reason. The right-hander, after throwing 61 pitches in 1 ²/₃ innings, was pulled from the game and later seen crying in the dugout.
“His growth certainly hasn’t been linear,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “At that moment, when he was struggling and emotional on the bench, and there’s a lot of video and pictures of that, and for him to do a little bit of self-reflection and get healthy and put himself back on the radar for our 2025 ball club, speaks to his fight.
“And I don’t think anyone could have anticipated this for him [relief] roll in April or May. So I give Roki a lot of credit for getting to that point.
And now he can look back at 2025 and enjoy it.”
Sasaki’s free agency tour last winter included a meeting with Mets and Yankees officials, but the Dodgers were seen as the favorites from the start based on their location, championship status and the fact that they had signed Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in each of the previous two seasons.
Due to his age, teams could only offer international bonus pool money for Sasaki, who received $6.5 million on a minor league contract. If Sasaki had waited until he was 25 to leave Japan for the MLB, he would have been eligible for normal free agency.
For reference, Yamamoto received a pitching record deal the previous winter (12 years, $325 million).
Sasaki indicated that the transition from starter to reliever was not difficult.
“As a starter, I always understand that there are always ups and downs,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “So I take the same approach when I pitch as a reliever. And I think what I’m trying to do is make sure everything and all my mechanics are in place so I can control the ball better. That’s what I’m really focusing on right now.”
And he is quickly accepted into an auxiliary corps. who needed a new high-leverage arm after wrestling closer. Tanner Scott was ruled out of the roster after the season due to a lower body abscess.
“Being out there, [Sasaki] he understands there’s a different vibe, a different energy coming out of that bullpen,” Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda said.
Sasaki’s only rocky relief appearance came in Game 1 of the NLCS, in which he was removed with two outs after walking two in the ninth inning. It followed a three-inning relief appearance in the decisive Game 4 of the NLDS, in which Sasaki held the Phillies scoreless before the Dodgers won in the 11th inning.
“As far as I’m concerned [Game 1] I don’t think my three-inning performance had any effect,” Sasaki said. “My mechanisms were subconsciously disabled. I wasn’t really aware of what was going on, which I think affected my command [velocity].”
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