Roki Sasaki...Named after the villain Rokui from a Super Sentai show that aired in Japan called "Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger"…Has two brothers, Ryuki and Reiki…Nicknamed The Monster of the Reiwa Era while in high school, a nod to countryman and former Major League pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose nickname was The Monster of the Heisei Era…Fastball was clocked at 101 mph while he was in high school…At age 9, as a third grader at Takata Elementary School, lost his father and paternal grandparents to the 9.1-magnitude Great East Japan earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011…More than 1,750 citizens in his hometown of Rikuzentakata City were declared missing or dead…At the press conference announcing his signing with the Dodgers, held in the wake of the devastating fires in Los Angeles, said, “I was also affected by disaster and suffered a lot, but I tried not to forget to keep looking forward”…Presented teammate Miguel Rojas with three bottles of sake and a set of serving glasses as a thank you after Rojas offered him No. 11 to wear.
2025
Picked up his first Major League win on May 3 at Atlanta, giving up six hits, three runs (one home run) and two walks while striking out four in 5.0 innings...On April 12 vs. the Cubs, started and suffered his first MLB loss despite pitching five innings of one-run ball in a game the Dodgers eventually dropped, 16-0...Set career highs for innings pitched in three consecutive starts, going four innings April 5 at Philadelphia, five innings April 12 vs. the Cubs and six innings April 19 at Texas…ERA was 2.40 during that span...Went on the injured list following his eighth appearance of the season, May 9 at Atlanta, with a right shoulder impingement...In seven games (five starts) on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City, went 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA (14 ER/20.2 IP)...Switching to the bullpen for the Dodgers after his rehab assignment, appeared in the seventh inning of two regular season games and retiring six of seven batters with four strikeouts...Dodgers went 6-2 in his eight starts and 8-2 in his 10 appearances…With runners in scoring position, opponents went 4-for-32 with eight walks (.598 OPS)...Kicked off stellar postseason by retiring the final three batters of the NLWC series against the Reds on a total of 11 pitches with two strikeouts...Dominated the Phillies in the NLDS, saving both Games 1 and 2 and then throwing three perfect innings (on 36 pitches) in the 11-inning Game 4 clincher...After allowing his only October run in NLCS Game 1 at Milwaukee, earned the save in Game 3 and for the second time closed out a playoff series with a shutout ninth inning in Game 4...In the Dodgers’ 18-inning victory in Game 3 of the World Series, entered the game with two runners on in the top of the eighth and induced two groundouts to preserve a tie, then pitched around a walk, infield single and walk for a shutout ninth inning...Finished October with a 0.84 ERA and six strikeouts in 10.2 innings, allowing six hits, five walks and one hit batter.
2024
Posted a 10-5 record with a 2.35 ERA (29 ER/111.0 IP) in 18 starts…struck out 129 batters against 32 walks with a 1.036 WHIP.
2023
Went 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA (18 ER/91.0 IP) in 15 starts with 135 strikeouts against 17 walks...Was a part of Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, going 1-0 in two starts with a 3.52 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
2022
Finished his first All-Star season by going 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA (29 ER/129.1 IP) in 20 games, with two complete games (one shutout) and 173 strikeouts against only 23 walks...Pitched a perfect game on April 10, becoming the 16th pitcher in NPB history to do so and the first player since Hiromi Makihara (1994)… he struck out 19 batters in the game, including 13 in a row to set a record for consecutive strikeouts in a game...He finished his historic two starts in April with 17 perfect innings and 33 strikeouts as he went on to set career highs in innings pitched (129.1), strikeouts (173) and walks per nine innings (1.6).
2021
Was selected by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) League in 2019, but did not appear until 2021...Made his NPB debut on May 16 and finished the season 3-2 with a 2.27 ERA (16 ER/63.1 IP) in 11 games with 68 strikeouts against 16 walks.
