SEATTLE — Roki Sasaki stared down one of the most fearsome sluggers in baseball.
Pitching in relief for the second time as a big leaguer, Sasaki had just served out a scorcher of a double to Randy Arozarena after getting two outs in the seventh inning. That brought up Cal Raleigh, the seventh player in Major League history to hit 60 homers in a season.
As “M-V-P!” chants rained down at T-Mobile Park, Sasaki went on the attack. He threw three straight splitters, and after Raleigh couldn’t hold back an awkward swing at the last one, was out of the jam.
“I don’t think we’d have had that same outcome in April,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Two relief outings, two scoreless innings for Sasaki. As he had in his first appearance out of the Dodgers’ ‘pen on Wednesday, he protected a two-run lead in Friday night’s eventual 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Before the Dodgers clinched the NL West, there was some question of how they would find the innings to have relievers audition for a spot in the postseason bullpen. Now that the division title and the No. 3 seed in the NL have been secured, they can see what they have to work with in the ‘pen before the Wild Card Series begins on Tuesday.
In the final week of the season, pitching in an unfamiliar role, Sasaki has finally looked like the dynamic arm the Dodgers signed out of Japan this past offseason.
“That’s the guy that we’ve seen in the past and were really excited about,” general manager Brandon Gomes said before the game. “He came out of it feeling great. I think it’ll be important for him to get out there and continue to understand the warmup routine and just pitching in different situations as a reliever. So I think it’s mutually beneficial to get him back out there.”
Sasaki struck out a pair in his second outing as a reliever. He topped out at 100.1 mph on his four-seamer — on the double to Arozarena, who scalded the ball at 109.6 mph off the wall in left-center — and sat 98-99 mph on the offering.
Of the 12 pitches he threw, 11 went for strikes. Sasaki generated four misses (three on his splitter, one on his four-seamer) on eight swings.
Not only are the Dodgers seeing the stuff they expected, but they’re getting a look at Sasaki with edge.
Sasaki’s body of work in relief, including his rehab outings with Triple-A Oklahoma City, comprises just four innings. But in that minuscule sample, he has looked like a very different pitcher than the one who posted a 4.72 ERA across eight starts before injuring his shoulder earlier this year.
“More than the 100 mph fastball and the split, and the movement on the ball and attacking the zone and throwing strikes, I think it’s the attitude,” Miguel Rojas said, “You can see him — not afraid of the moment and the situation. He wants to be there.”
Sasaki pitched on one day of rest on Friday, and previously got two days off in between his other relief outings. Roberts said Sasaki will not make it into the final two games of the regular season.
Has the 23-year-old righty shown enough to carve out a role in the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen?
“We’ll see,” Roberts said. “We’ve got some good tough decisions to make.”
After ruling out one arm in Brock Stewart — who is set for season-ending shoulder surgery — before the game, the Dodgers saw several of the options at hand.
Emmet Sheehan, who was moved up in the rotation so he could be available for the Wild Card Series, essentially served as the opener of a bullpen game. He gave up an unearned run and struck out three in one inning, getting him ready for the short-burst role he’s expected to fill in the postseason.
Scoreless outings for Justin Wrobleski, Will Klein, Anthony Banda, Sasaki and Tanner Scott followed. Blake Treinen was the only other Dodgers pitcher to give up a run, although Scott nearly got himself in trouble by loading the bases in the ninth inning.
But this time, Scott did not let his problems snowball and was able to convert his 23rd save. As with Sasaki, the Dodgers need to see the version of Scott that they signed last offseason come October.
“It certainly hasn’t been the year that we envisioned [for Scott],” Roberts said, “but he potentially has the opportunity to make it all go away by showing his best in the postseason.”
