After digesting that Ben Rortvedt will now join fellow former Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, a non-roster invitee, in New York Mets spring training camp, here are more baseball stories to begin your week.
Roki Sasaki faced hitters, including Hyeseong Kim, on Sunday at Camelback Ranch, as he begins building toward his second year in the majors.
Sasaki was the most coveted arm in the sport last offseason as an amateur free agent, with artificial constraints limiting what MLB teams could pay him. But his first season in the United States was a disappointment at best, or incomplete more favorably, sidelined for four months with a shoulder impingement and trying to rework a broken fastball and improve his repertoire.
From Alden González at ESPN:
“Reflecting back on my last year, I felt like I just stumbled with my own responsibility in the sense that it wasn’t really about the level of Major League Baseball or the hitters,” Sasaki said. “It was just really more about things that I could’ve controlled that I didn’t. So this year, coming into the year — my goal is to be able to pitch throughout the entire season. And I think that will allow me to be able to show what I have to work on in the big league level.”
On Sunday, Sasaki talked about his new slider, among other things. From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:
“The sliders that I threw last year weren’t good. Results-wise, it wasn’t good too,” he said. “This year, I want to focus more on the gyro-spin slider. Today I haven’t thrown the two-seamer, but that’s also in the works.”
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After Tommy John surgery last June, Evan Phillips could return in July or August, roughly, and talked to reporters Sunday about his timeline, which could include throwing bullpen sessions at some point during spring training.
“He’s feeling really good, throwing looks great, body looks great,” general manager Brandon Gomes said, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com. “I think it’s just being mindful and viewing him almost as like a Trade Deadline acquisition in some way, shape or form.”
Sunday around spring camps included a few players asked about Dodgers spending, including San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper.
Said Machado, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today: “I (expletive) love it. I think every team should be doing it. They’re figured out a way to do it, and the (stuff) is (expletive) great for the game honestly. I think every team has the ability to do it. So, I hope all 30 teams could learn from it.”
From Harper, per Katie Woo at The Athletic: “I love what the Dodgers do, obviously. They pay the money, they spend the money. I mean, they’re a great team. They understand how to run it. They run their team like a business, and they run it the right way. They understand where they need to put their money into.”
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