New Headline: Young Starter Sasaki's Horrific Show Stuns Dodgers Fans in 2019
For the third straight outing, Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki showcased a roller coaster of an outing.
Roki Sasaki's latest outing on Tuesday night needed to be a step in the right direction to ease the mind of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, it added another loop of questions and uncertainty to how Sasaki could perform as a starter in 2026. In 3 1/3 innings pitched against the Kansas City Royals in Surprise, Arizona, Sasaki gave up three earned runs, walked five and struck out five.
The Dodgers put together a six-run ninth inning to beat the Royals 10-4. The command has been a recurring issue for Sasaki this spring, but early on in his third Cactus League start, it looked as though he found his rhythm early. Through the first two innings, Sasaki struck out two and topped out at 100 mph.
It wasn't until the third inning that his command started to go awry. Sasaki began the third inning striking out David Cross before walking the next three batters. After walking Lane Thomas, manager Dave Roberts pulled him out of the game with 49 pitches under his belt.
Roki Sasaki completes 3 1/3 innings. 2 ER [two-run HR] 3 H 5 K 4 BB pic. twitter.