Bringing a team on the verge of 11 consecutive victories to a screeching halt was the seemingly impossible task for a struggling Roki Sasaki on Saturday. On his first ever bobblehead day, Sasaki did what he could to allow the Dodgers to pounce on Chicago Cubs starter Colin Rea, and it resulted in his first win of the season.
Sasaki managed to pitch into the sixth inning of a 12-4 Dodger victory and while he allowed four runs over that span— including three solo home runs— he tallied a season-high five strikeouts with the biggest improvement being only one walk allowed. The biggest difference compared to his first four starts was an increase in both usage and velocity on his splitter, which he threw 48 times while generating a first pitch strike rate of 90 percent.
There is still more to be desired for the still unfinished project, as noted by Sonja Chen of MLB.com, but Sasaki is hoping to not worry about the length of his starts and instead lean more on the efficacy of what he can do on the mound.
“The first couple games, I couldn’t go deeper. It was kind of frustrating,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But right now, I’m just focused on what I can do, and then at the end of the season, I just want to be who I want to be.”
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In our early season predictions post, I mentioned that I planned on attending Saturday’s game against the Cubs, and it’s always nice to see a Dodger win and get a Roki Sasaki bobblehead. But it was the 50-year anniversary and commemoration of Rick Monday’s iconic American flag rescue that stole the show, and it became even more emblematic when during the seventh inning stretch, “God Bless America” was the prelude to the usual ballpark anthem.
While his two former teams competed, Monday later admitted during the game’s broadcast that he had no idea that the Dodgers would be honoring him and felt “very humbled,” per Beth Harris of the Associated Press.
“I had no idea they were going to be here or present me with an honor. Very humbled,” Monday said later on the radio broadcast of the game.
Shohei Ohtani has been on a recent offensive slump since the Dodgers road series in San Francisco, as he is now 2 for 19 over his last five games, striking out eight times and recording zero extra-base hits. While having the everyday leadoff hitter slumping in this manner is worrisome, Dave Roberts has faith that Ohtani will manage to quickly turn a new page at the plate, per Michael Huntley of the Orange County Register.
“He’s a very smart player,” Roberts said. “He certainly deserves more leash and more opportunity than essentially anyone.”
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