On Wednesday evening in Japan and Wednesday morning in the United States, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers were completed the Two game Tokyo series (Gametracker). The Dodgers then go for sweeping Returning to win the first game in the iconic Tokyo Dome on Tuesday.
The MLB debut by Roki Sasaki, the newest sensation was to make the leap of Japanese professional baseball from Nippon to MLB. The flaming 23-year-old opened the Wednesday game with four consecutive 100 km / h Fastballs and its Fastball on average average – 98.0 mph in the game. Eight of its 37 fastballs registered at 99 km / h higher.
Sasaki had Countryman Seiya Suzuki, the second batter he met, to swing through a 99.3 MPH Fastball for his first MLB strikeout.
The pure speed was certainly impressive and Sasaki sometimes overwhelmed Cubs hitters, although he was very wild on Wednesday. He only threw 19 of his 56 throws in the Strike zone statcast, plus a handful of others close to the edges. Officially, Sasaki only threw 25 of his 56 throws for strikes, or 45%. The average success rate of the MLB was 64% in 2024.
After a fast 1-2-3 first inning, Sasaki only stood out five of the last 11 batters with whom he was confronted. He ran five of those 11 and also hit a batter and needed a doubles to scap a jam in the second inning. In the third, Sasaki walked three straight batters, including Kyle Tucker with the bases, before he threw Michael Busch and Matt Shaw to limit the damage.
Sasaki combines his fastball with a high octane standing with a biter splitter. It is a bucket because the pitch on average travels a spider speed about 500 rpm, which is exceptionally low. The average MLB -Splitter was 1,303 rpm last season and only 10 pitchers on average less than 1,000 rpm on their split. The spider is so low that the Sasaki Knuckleball splitter has action. It can break in both directions.
As unique as Sasaki’s splitter is, the Cubs waved only two of the 15 splitters he threw on Wednesday because he was so wild, and because so many splitters were far outside the zone for Easy Takes. Nerves certainly played a role in the wildness of Sasaki. Eventually he showed Dynamite RAW stuff on Wednesday, it is real top-of-the-rotation power, but Sasaki must also improve his command.
Just like the other three starting pitchers in the Tokyo series, Sasaki was drawn on Wednesday with a fairly low pitch period because it is mid-March, and he is not fully structured for the season. Sasaki, respectively, threw 46 and 41 throws in his two spring training, although he went to the bullpen after his second start to keep throwing and building his pitch count.
Sasaki is the third-youngest player born in Japan who debuts in MLB after playing in NPB in 23 years and 136 days, According to mlb.com. Only Masanori Murakami (20 years and 118 days in 1963) and Tomo Ohka (23 years and 123 days in 1999) were younger. We have arranged Sasaki as the seventh best free agent to be available out of season this past. Here is the article:
The short hook: Explosive young right with sustainability questions
Sasaki is the most talented pitcher who is not yet in an MLB organization. He has been on the global radar since he threw a 19-Stike-Out Perfect game as a 20-year-old in 2022. He combines elite speed with a devastating Swing-and-Miss Splitter/forkball. Sasaki has treated his part of the injuries and limits him to 33 combined starts in the past two seasons. His earning potential is fully suppressed because of his classification of amateur -free agent. Nevertheless, a fully updated Sasaki has the chance to be an immediate impact starter in the Majors.
Sasaki, 23, joined the Dodgers on a Minor League contract with a signing bonus of $ 6.5 million in January. The international signing rules of MLB limited him to a Minor League deal instead of a massive contract with Yoshinobu Yamamotas because he is younger than 25. The San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were the other two finalists to sign him.
The Dodgers attack gave Sasaki a lot of support on Wednesday. They scored two points in the second inning and later ran with home runs from Tommy Edman (Solo) and Enrique Hernández (Twee-Run). Edman’s Thuis Run was the first of the 2025 MLB season. Sasaki left the match with La Loving 5-1.