Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki and catcher Dalton Rushing spoke about the improvements the right-hander made in his start against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Sasaki’s line wasn’t anything special in the Dodgers’ 12-4 win over the Cubs, pitching five innings with five strikeouts to go with four runs on seven hits, but he made an intriguing adjustment to his notorious splitter. The right-hander noticeably increased his velocity on the pitch, therefore increasing the rotation and break—a change he had been working on with pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuinness.
“My splitter had a better command,” Sasaki said. “Mechanically, I also started feeling better.”
Rushing also had good things to say about the pitch.
“I think it’s more efficient for him,” Rushing said. “I think it’s gonna work for him over the course of the whole season, rather than trying to land the 84-86 on a splitter. It’s hard to command that pitch.
“It was around the zone. It was in the zone, early in the count, and that alone is a little bit of a difference from the past.”
Rushing has caught all but one of Sasaki’s starts this season, which came against the Colorado Rockies last week. He explained what he and Sasaki set out to do in his fifth start of the year Saturday, as well as how much the right-hander had improved.
“It was just, ‘What can we get in the zone early to get strike one in the first two pitches?’” Rushing said. “I think he did a really good job of that. Moving forward, I think we can tinker with it a little bit to be a little safer with it with two strikes. I know we gave up a couple hits on two-strike splitters, whether it was overexposed or what, but I’m really excited for his next (start).”
Sasaki has had a rough time out of the gate for the Dodgers, but has had a couple of decent outings to hang his hat on so far.
His best of the year came in his first start against the Cleveland Guardians, where he struck out four in four innings while allowing just one run. He still lost that game despite his decent effort, though, as the bats never really woke up.
He’s made four starts in April, allowing 15 earned runs through 18.2 innings pitched. He has 18 strikeouts in that time, and has struggled with the long ball—allowing eight home runs.
The Dodgers don’t yet have starters listed for their next two series, but it’s safe to assume Sasaki will feature during their road trip against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the meantime, Sasaki will hope to continue polishing his splitter to improve his results.
What did you think of Roki Sasaki in his start on Saturday?