Roki finds his confidence in promising first start of the season

LOS ANGELES -- Roki Sasaki had a spring to forget. But that's the beauty of spring: Once it's over, every player starts the regular season with a clean slate.

Questions arose every time Sasaki took the mound this spring, resembling the shaky starting pitcher he was early last season far more than the reliable leverage reliever he became in the postseason. But the Dodgers remained steadfast in their belief that once the 24-year-old right-hander took the mound in a meaningful game, he would find ways to get outs and give the team length.

Under the lights of Dodger Stadium, after warming up with "Bailalo Rocky" blaring, Sasaki seemed to take that message to heart in his season debut against the Guardians on Monday night. He battled his command at times, but put together an outing that was far more promising than any of his Cactus League performances. Across four-plus innings, Sasaki struck out four, walked two and gave up one run on four hits.

The Dodgers' bats could not conjure up much run support, falling 4-2 to the Guardians for their first loss of the young season. But Sasaki held his own in a way that he did not during his poor Spring Training, which he admitted impacted his confidence.

"I actually didn't have confidence at all before this game started," Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. "But I was just focusing on doing what I can control."

Sasaki held his velocity through his outing, topping out at 99.5 mph and averaging 97.6 mph with his four-seamer. He didn't generate much swing-and-miss with his fastball (two whiffs on 17 swings), but his new cutter-slider (four whiffs on 12 swings) and signature splitter (three whiffs on five swings) helped him miss bats. He landed 45 of the 78 pitches he threw for strikes, with his command improving as the outing went on.

"Establishing the fastball early, I think, is really important," catcher Dalton Rushing said. "Landing the splitter would change a lot for him, if he can land the splitter when he needs to. And then just let it go. When he does it, he’s going to get more swing-and-miss. But I thought it was a quality start for him."

The most encouraging part of Sasaki's season debut may have been his ability to limit damage. During Spring Training, the Dodgers made liberal use of the rule that allows pitchers to re-enter games with Sasaki, who was removed after having an inning spiral on him in all four spring games he started.

In the third inning on Monday, the Guardians seemed to be on the verge of building a big inning against Sasaki. After retiring six of his first seven hitters, Sasaki gave up a leadoff double to Austin Hedges, who was doubled home by Steven Kwan two batters later. Sasaki followed that by walking Chase DeLauter, but he struck out José Ramírez on three pitches and got Kyle Manzardo to fly out to end the threat.

The beginning of that third inning resembled the innings that had gotten away from Sasaki during spring, but unlike in those outings, he was able to take care of business.

"That’s growth," manager Dave Roebrts said. "I know he was a little bit nervous going into this start about what to expect. … But he responded well."

Sasaki touched the fifth inning, but he gave up a leadoff single to Angel Martínez, his final hitter. Tanner Scott relieved him, and after allowing a base hit to Kwan, he was able to strand Martínez on third base to preserve Sasaki's final line.

"I thought Roki pitched a really good game," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "We were just fortunate to scratch one off of him.”

After Sasaki posted an unsightly 15.58 ERA (15 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings) during spring, many questioned why the Dodgers were so bullish on having him in the rotation. The team would have liked to see Sasaki have more success during spring, but what matters most is that he is performing to his capabilities during games that matter.

The Dodgers saw success breed confidence in Sasaki during the postseason. Now, they'd like to see him take the next step toward becoming the big league starter they believe he can be.

"When you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence," Roberts said. "That was certainly an honest admission. But when you perform, you start to have true confidence. So hopefully he can build on this one."