Crowd gathers for Sasaki's first live BP, which doesn't disappoint

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The baseball world has long been excited to see how Roki Sasaki's stuff would translate to the Majors, and the Dodgers -- as winners of the Sasaki sweepstakes -- got the first look at how he might use his arsenal against big league hitters.

Sasaki drew quite the crowd for his first live batting practice session of the spring on Wednesday. And it wasn't just fans -- dozens of teammates, coaches and front-office members were standing behind home plate and off to the side to catch a glimpse.

“I wasn’t nervous," Sasaki said, with Dodgers director of baseball product development Yuji Akimoto interpreting. "But facing hitters for the first time using a Major League ball, and pitching in a game environment for the first time in a while, I was just sort of feeling out how it would go, getting used to being back in the flow of a game.”

Sasaki threw two innings, allowing a pair of line-drive hits but otherwise keeping the ball on the ground. The 23-year-old right-hander threw mostly fastballs and splitters but also mixed in some sliders, a pitch that is considered more of a work in progress for him.

Sasaki felt that Wednesday's live BP marked a step forward from the two bullpen sessions he's thrown in camp.

“Just overall, my velocity was better," Sasaki said. "And having hitters in the box, even though I threw a decent amount of balls, I felt that my command was where I was generally aiming for.”

Sasaki's splitter, in particular, has been an object of fascination this spring. His signature offering is known for its movement, and he got Eddie Rosario to whiff on back-to-back pitches for his only swinging strikeout of the outing.

"It's difficult to hit him," Rosario later remarked. The veteran outfielder -- who earned NLCS MVP honors with the Braves against the Dodgers in 2021 and is in camp as a non-roster invitee -- added that the splitter moves unpredictably, going between the inside and outside of the zone from pitch to pitch.

"It has a lot of deviation from the fastball," said Tommy Edman, who had one of the hits off Sasaki. "The fastball, obviously, has got some ride and run, and the splitter has a lot of depth off of that. I think that's why those two play so well off each other."

The slider has been more of a mystery. Sasaki has focused most on readying his fastball-splitter combo for game action, so he's been easing his third pitch into the workload. He threw one to Edman and several more to veteran infielder David Bote, who is also in camp as a non-roster invitee.

"It's hard to say, to compare it to what he's worked on," said Bote, who had the other hit off Sasaki. "But he's young, continuing to work through all he needs to do. So developing wherever the pitching staff wants him to go, I think he's going to be right where he needs to be."

With Sasaki still working to develop his slider, there has been some question of whether he needs to add another solid pitch in order to succeed as a Major League starter. The Dodgers are interested in continuing to build up Sasaki's arsenal, but their first priority is helping him acclimate to life in the big leagues before focusing on making adjustments.

Even so, the team is confident in what Sasaki brings to the table.

"I think with his command and how good the velocity, the command and the split is, then I think he can generally use two pitches and anything on top of that is just kind of on top," general manager Brandon Gomes said. "The foundational pieces are there, and now it's about understanding that he is young, he does have room to develop."

Sasaki's response to the increased attention has been equally notable to his teammates. Several Dodgers remarked that they hadn't seen this level of interest, let alone the sheer number of people, in a live batting practice session.

"Just to come out and do that with that group of people and to throw a live BP with like 50 people literally right behind you, that takes guts as well," Bote said. "So the fact that he went up and showed really what he's about and how he can pitch and how he's going to be able to handle all this. … He looks like he's strong up in the mental side, which I think is going to make him an even better pitcher."