Roki Sasaki had a tough start with the Dodgers this year. He managed shoulder injuries, velocity issues, and the usual hiccups of transitioning to a new league, but the team’s staff stuck with him. Now, they’re being rewarded.
In September, Sasaki and Dodgers director of pitching Rob Hill and other pitching staff for an in-depth meeting all about Sasaki’s routines, challenges, and even past pitching advice, according to Jeff Passan at ESPN. They left with an agenda: develop a collaborative and personalized
plan for mechanical adjustments and get Sasaki back on track.
“It can happen quick if you just align the joints in the right way, especially with a guy who’s already produced a crazy amount of velo in his life,” Hill said.
And as it turns out, that’s all it took. The team figured out that Sasaki’s pelvis was rotating too early and suggested he try out out a new set position for his back leg that would stabilize his body and maximize energy transfer. The results were nearly instant, and Sasaki quickly reached up to 97 mph on his fastball in bullpen sessions—a welcome sight given his previous decline in speed. That velocity has only improved since then, topping 100 mph in recent outings.
Now, Sasaki is making one more change, entering the bullpen for the postseason. He took the mound for his first relief outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on September 18, striking out two, then pitched in relief back in the majors twice in three days. After striking out four, he’s become the Dodgers’ unofficial closer.
“The fun part about relieving,” Sasaki said, “is the opportunity to be able to contribute to the game, to the team every day.”
Dodgers Notes
Clayton Kershaw is finishing out his career in the bullpen, and he’s not the first Dodger to do so, writes Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times. Greg Maddux did the same thing — coincidentally, during Kershaw’s postseason debut.
No MLB team has won consecutive World Series since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000, and there have only been 14 instances total of that feat happening, writes Dayn Perry at CBS Sports. The odds are against the Dodgers, but maybe they can pull it off.
It’s a high-tech world, and pitchers are feeling the added pressures of digital eyes everywhere. Andy McCullough, Dennis Lin, and Cody Stavenhagen at The Athletic took a deep dive into the subtleties of spotting and preventing pitch tipping, including how the Dodgers spotted Alex Vesia’s quirky tell.
