A nervous Roki Sasaki steadies himself in Dodgers season debut after a shaky spring
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A nervous Roki Sasaki took the mound in his season debut, knowing he needed to prove something to himself and the Los Angeles Dodgers after a shaky spring. The right-hander allowed one run and four hits over four innings of a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night. Sasaki struck out four and walked two in his first major league start since May 9.
He walked 15 batters during spring training , raising concerns about his ability to perform as a starter. "I actually didn’t have the confidence at all when this game started,” Sasaki said through a translator, “but I was just focusing on doing what I can control. ” José Ramírez, Cleveland's best hitter, singled in the first inning before Sasaki got him on a swinging strikeout in the third with runners on first and second and the Dodgers trailing 1-0.
“It should be a big boost to his confidence,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a confident player, but when you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence. But when you perform, you start to build true confidence, so hopefully he can build on this one.
” Roberts detected Sasaki's self-doubt in the first inning, when the 24-year-old pitcher got two quick outs before Ramírez singled and stole second. “It was a wait-and-see kind of demeanor in the sense of you know what you’re supposed to do, know what you want to do, and until you actually do it, holding your breath a little bit,” the manager said. “Once he got out of that inning he was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’ and then wanted to go out there and keep doing it.
” Dalton Rushing, the 25-year-old backup to catcher Will Smith, called the game behind the plate while Smith got the night off. Rushing used the time walking in from the bullpen with Sasaki to pump him up. “I told him it was just me and him, just kind of tunnel vision to an extent and trust what you do,” Rushing said.