14 C
Spain
Monday, February 10, 2025

Latest Posts

Roki Sasaki chooses to signal with the Dodgers, finishing their excessive upside rotation – Dodgers Digest


It’s now been over two months for the reason that Chiba Lotte Marines introduced they’d put up Roki Sasaki, however fortunately the ready recreation is now over as he introduced on Instagram that he has chosen to signal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers had $5,146,200 in worldwide bonus pool cash for the 2025 interval, however just lately made a pair of trades to complement that complete by not less than $1.5 million, and can now signal Sasaki for $6.5 million. It’s cash equal to concerning the eighth decide within the 2024 MLB Draft.

——

Oh man, this needs to be a enjoyable time on-line.

Many baseball followers are so primed to hate on the Dodgers they have been even melting down concerning the Hyeseong Kim signing. Now the Dodgers have gained the sweepstakes for arguably among the finest younger pitchers in baseball, who will play for the league minimal and be beneath staff management for six years.

As for the rationale he’s so hyped, the most effective learn on Roki I’ve discovered anyplace is nonetheless Brim’s primer, so citing it liberally is the easiest way to give you a profile on the brand new Dodger starter.

Sasaki’s foundational pitch is his four-seam fastball, and between 2022 and 2023 it was about as elite as a fastball can get. Within the latter season, Sasaki’s fastball averaged 99 miles per hour and topped out at 103. Moreover, the pitch has quantity of motion. Throughout Sasaki’s World Baseball Traditional video games in Miami (which have been pitched in entrance of Statcast with an MLB-style ball), his fastballs averaged 100 MPH with a form much like Gerrit Cole’s four-seamer.

By way of his younger profession, Sasaki’s splitter has been his main out pitch. When batters swung at Sasaki’s splitter in 2024, they missed 57% of the time. That may be a related whiff price to what Kodai Senga generated together with his well-known “ghost fork” in his closing NPB season. Sasaki’s splitter doesn’t actually transfer west-to-east like Senga’s or Yamamoto’s, as an alternative diving nearly straight downwards.

Sasaki’s third pitch is his slider, which is an odd providing. It might be pure to anticipate Sasaki’s slider to be extra of an influence pitch given his elite fastball velocity, however in 2024 the pitch averaged slightly below 84 MPH. With such a giant slider to fastball pace variance, one would possibly assume the pitch could be extra slurvy or sweeper-ish, but it surely isn’t. Sasaki’s slider is extra depending on gyro spin, the deception coming extra from the pace differential than the form alone.

Sasaki has additionally thrown curveballs in NPB, however the use price is so low that it’s arduous to assemble any info apart from “he throws it typically.” Sasaki doesn’t have any extraordinarily high-spin pitches, so the low use could also be on account of not liking the uncooked components. Nonetheless, if MLB groups do attempt to make the slider extra agency, Sasaki would possibly want an additional device to maintain all of his pitches from current in too slim of a velocity band.

After all, Sasaki doesn’t come with out potential draw back as properly.

Regardless of the superlatives on Sasaki’s three primary pitches, there may be one notably giant elephant within the room: Sasaki’s 2024 season and the way it pertains to his lengthy and imprecise damage historical past. Whereas Sasaki was fairly good in 2024, his numbers and stuff declined barely. As an alternative of an ERA at or beneath 2, he posted a 2.35. His strikeout price fell beneath 30%, whereas his stroll price elevated to 7%. These numbers don’t fairly reside as much as what he’s achieved earlier than.

Sasaki’s NPB profession has additionally been marred by a collection of accidents, and 2024 featured essentially the most regarding of the bunch. Sasaki’s profession excessive in innings pitched is simply 129-1/3 in 2022. In 2023, he solely threw 91 frames, lacking greater than half the season on account of an indirect damage. Sasaki threw 111 innings in 2024, lacking extra time on account of a imprecise “proper arm damage.” NPB groups don’t present as a lot element about particular illnesses as MLB groups, in order that’s actually all we all know proper now.

So principally, Sasaki has one of many highest ceilings in all of baseball on account of having a loopy quantity of arm expertise, but in addition comes with damage purple flags that make it a priority as as to if he can ever attain that ceiling and even keep wholesome for an entire season. In brief, an ideal Dodgers pitcher.

——

When it comes to match on the roster, whereas it’s not truthful to the beginning choices of the Dodgers to say that the staff wanted him, Roki undoubtedly makes the staff extra fearsome in each the brief and long run.

Because it stands, actually each single considered one of rotation choices going into subsequent 12 months both missed important time final 12 months on account of damage, carried out poorly, or is one thing of an unproven prospect.

*I imply, not technically but, however IYKYK.

Roki isn’t an exception to the query marks, however he does add one other arm to the combination, which is very essential with the six-man rotation coming to the staff. Extra importantly, he’s one other arm with playoff rotation kind of upside, which helps the obvious Dodger plan of simply desperately hoping they’ll get 3-4 of these guys proper by October.

Moreover, with the worth of pitching skyrocketing in free company, the Dodgers possible hope that Roki’s addition will principally lock down their rotation for not less than a number of years due to Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, and him all being beneath contract. Other than inevitable accidents, that alignment would nonetheless depart not less than one house open within the rotation for anyone to step up and declare it, a spot that they don’t really want to fill in free company. In relation to any future pitching plans, there’s at all times legitimate concern, but it surely’s arduous to not be optimistic concerning the Dodgers’ scenario on this second.

======

The underside line right here is the Dodgers have been already going to be perennial World Collection contenders, however now they’re including one of many highest upside pitchers in Roki Sasaki for what quantities to love Miguel Rojas cash as a result of Roki’s (unfairly) handled as an beginner prospect on account of his age. Fairly frankly, it’s arduous to comprise one’s pleasure.

It’s undoubtedly a scenario of the wealthy persevering with to get richer, however to be truthful, this type of stuff (like Ohtani’s alternative) is the reward for what the Dodgers have constructed as a company from the highest down beneath Mark Walter, Stan Kasten, and Andrew Friedman. The long run seems to be nearly comically vibrant proper now, and whereas it’s loopy to consider given the prolonged and storied historical past of this staff, I hope followers can take a step again and respect the most effective period any Dodger fan has ever seen.



Latest Posts

Don't Miss

Stay in touch

To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.