Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki made his major-league debut on Wednesday, allowing one run in three innings during a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.
To say this was a pressure-packed welcome to the MLB for Sasaki would be putting it lightly. Not only is he pitching for one of the most prestigious franchises in sports, but he was also doing it in front of his home nation in Japan.
Sasaki certainly didn’t have his very best stuff, issuing five walks in the outing, but he managed to register back-to-back strikeouts to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the third frame to cap his performance.
Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was very complimentary of the 23-year-old following his gutsy inaugural showing.
“Just the way he responded in that situation, he didn’t have his best command tonight, I think it just speaks to how competitive he is,” Roberts said. “That was a pivotal part of the game. He’s just such a great competitor. … Even when he didn’t have his best stuff early, again, I think it was a lot of emotions, but it speaks to how competitive [he is]. That he can make pitches.”
Roki Sasaki signed with Los Angeles back in January, joining fellow Japanese natives Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Because he was under 25 years old, he was forced to sign a minor-league deal, but he was able to bag a $6.5 million signing bonus from the Dodgers.
The right-hander was instantly named the top prospect in all of baseball upon inking his deal with LA, and we definitely saw glimpses of that during his first outing against the Cubs.
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