Sasaki (10 K's, 7 scoreless) looking more like pitcher LA 'hoped to get'

LOS ANGELES -- Right before their eyes, the Dodgers have borne witness to Roki Sasaki blossoming into the big league starter they knew he could be.

In several ways, the version of Sasaki they've seen of late has been like an entirely new pitcher. His fastball has been harder and more effective. He attacks hitters in the zone, and there's a real sense of confidence when he's on the mound. But at the same time, this version of Sasaki is not new at all.

"This is the guy that we saw on video in Japan, and that we hoped to get," manager Dave Roberts said.

Sasaki put together his finest performance as a Major Leaguer, setting career highs with 10 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings before Freddie Freeman walked off the Angels, 1-0, on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

In a pitchers' duel against Angels starter Reid Detmers, Sasaki began his outing with just a pair of walks allowed through his first four innings, and he only gave up a pair of hits overall. The contest was in a scoreless tie until the bottom of the ninth, when Freeman took former Dodger Kirby Yates deep for a walk-off blast to seal a series-opening victory.

At 24 years and 214 days old, Sasaki became the fourth-youngest Japanese-born pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts in a Major League game, behind only Shohei Ohtani (twice in 2018, at 23 years and 277 days, 23 years and 312 days) and Kazuhito Tadano (2004, 24 years and 68 days).

Sasaki has dominated the Angels in two starts this season, also tossing seven innings of one-run ball last month in Anaheim. That start was viewed as his most complete big league performance at the time, and he has continued to grow with each outing.

The key, as Sasaki sees it, is that he's been able to pitch the way he wants to at this level. That goes into the quality of his stuff, the way he sequences his mix and his presence on the mound.

"I'm making small adjustments all the time. I think that because of that, everything's kind of put together," Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. "When I do that, I find a good rhythm out there. That kind of keeps me going."

Since adding a new splitter to his repertoire on April 25, Sasaki has posted a 3.12 ERA (14 earned runs in 40 1/3 innings) through seven starts. In his last two starts, he's unlocked the triple-digit velocity that was his calling card in Nippon Professional Baseball, topping out at a career-high 100.6 mph on his fastball on Friday.

When Sasaki signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2025 season, he was seen as a phenom who appeared set to take the Majors by storm after a brief but decorated career in Japan. His rookie season did not meet those expectations, as Sasaki posted a 4.72 ERA through eight starts before a right shoulder impingement sidelined him for more than four months. He shined in a stint as L.A.'s postseason closer, but he seemed to take a step back by posting a 6.11 ERA through his first four starts this year.

Since then, Sasaki's new splitter has opened things up for him. It bears some similarities to the version of the splitter he threw while in Japan, and it tunnels well with his fastball. The slider-cutter he added in the offseason has been effective as well.

The end result has resembled Sasaki the phenom, as expected, although the Dodgers see more nuance with his situation.

"It’s not what I would say we expected; it’s what we heard. And then when you feel comfortable and confident, then you can start to expect things," Freeman said. "When you keep putting back-to-back starts like he’s been doing, that’s when the expectations kinda come along with it."

Sasaki has had to confront his own failure early on in his big league career, and there were times when his body language on the mound showed just how difficult that can be. But he has made just 19 starts in the Majors, and if his growth over the past month is any indication, he has a lot more to give the Dodgers.

"I think that we were all guilty of expecting it to be seamless. Certainly unfair to Roki, not appreciating that there has to be some transition period," Roberts said. "He went through some tough times and some doubts, but he’s gotten to the other side."