Sasaki shows encouraging command of signature splitter, until wobbly 6th inning

LOS ANGELES -- If Roki Sasaki’s splitter is working, then opposing batters beware.

It was certainly working through the first five innings of Thursday’s 6-2 win over the Mariners at Dodger Stadium.

The sixth inning was a different story -- though a complete breakdown was averted, thanks to a little help from the bullpen and Freddie Freeman’s glove.

As he has in a couple of recent starts, Sasaki turned to his splitter more than any of his other pitches and, once again, saw an uptick in velocity. He clearly had a feel for the pitch … at least, for most of the night. Nine of his 18 swings and misses came on the splitter, which he regularly turned to as his putaway pitch, getting four of his seven strikeouts with it. In those first five frames, he allowed just three baserunners, on two singles and a walk, and gave up just one hard-hit ball (95 mph exit velocity or higher).

“Every day is a test. Every outing's a test,” manager Dave Roberts said pregame. “You've got to continue to prove it, and you should want to do that. … He has command of that split, which is the key to everything for him in his game.”

The sixth, however, was a study in contrasts. Sasaki was facing Seattle’s batting order for the third time -- and they wasted no time jumping on him. Suddenly, he wasn’t getting any swings and misses on the splitter, or on any pitch. His command faltered, as he issued two walks. The Mariners picked up three hits, all coming off the bat at 101.5 mph or harder.

The inning started with Cole Young tripling and scoring on a Randy Arozarena double. Four batters later, Sasaki’s night ended with a bases-loaded walk to Cal Raleigh. He gave way to Jack Dreyer, who got the second out on a big strikeout of Rob Refsnyder on three pitches. Dreyer then induced a grounder to shortstop. Mookie Betts very nearly threw the ball away, but Freeman leaped to snag it and, as he landed, managed to tag Weston Wilson for the third out, limiting the damage to Sasaki’s overall line.

Although Roberts was not aware until after Sasaki’s evening was over, the right-hander was dealing with a leg cramp late in his start, which likely impacted his performance.

“I’d been feeling really good up until the [sixth] inning,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “... The third time through the order in the sixth inning, I really need to be more careful. And Jack also helped me. I really appreciated him getting out of that.”

Additionally, catcher Dalton Rushing suggested that the Mariners made adjustments upon their third time seeing Sasaki’s stuff, getting aggressive early in counts.

“I think they picked up on the plan a little bit, and they jumped on first-pitch strikes,” said Rushing. “So in that world, sometimes you’ve got to flip the script a little bit. As an offense, they did a good job kind of changing the gameplan a little bit.”

Overall, though, the recent returns for Sasaki have been highly encouraging, as he’s posted a 2.25 ERA over his last four starts (compared to 5.40 over his first 15 starts), compiling 26 strikeouts over 24 innings.

“The second half, when he came out of that first start, you just saw that, I think, he just kind of decided that it's time to go and finish strong, and it's a new half and it's a new beginning,” said Roberts. “And you've seen a different player, to be quite honest. There's a lot more confidence, not just kind of the in-between and uncertain. I use that word ‘conviction’ a lot -- there's a lot of conviction. And so it's been really good.”