Roki Sasaki walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium on Friday night looking like a completely different pitcher than the one who left for the All-Star break. The Dodgers right-hander threw 5.2 innings of one-run ball, scattered five hits and punched out eight Yankees while averaging something like 100 mph on his fastball. He threw 21 pitches at 100 or faster. That’s not a typo.
Dave Roberts had a pretty simple reaction to what he saw: very impressed. But he went a step further after the 2-1 win. He compared it to something he’d seen before.
“It sort of reminded me of when Yamamoto was here a couple of years ago and that performance he put out, and the velocity, everything ticked up,” Roberts said. “And tonight, you could see the focus.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, of course, had that breakout stretch two seasons ago that turned him into a frontline starter. Sasaki’s outing Friday had the same kind of energy. The velo was up. The command was sharper. The body language was different. Roberts said Sasaki wanted to get off on the right foot in the second half, and he checked that box emphatically.
There’s context here that matters. Sasaki has been good in flashes this season but not dominant consistently. Friday was only the fifth time all year he allowed one run or fewer in a start. The difference seemed to be the pure power stuff. The Yankees clearly weren’t expecting him to sit at 100 and reach back for 101 when he needed it. That changes a hitter’s approach. It changes the whole game plan.
Roberts was asked whether Sasaki can build on this the way Yamamoto did. His answer was basically a hopeful yes, with one caveat.
“I hope so,” Roberts said. “I mean, it’s a good team over there and on the road. And to battle his emotions and go out there and put forth that effort that he did tonight was fun to watch.”
The Dodgers got just enough offense to back him up. Max Muncy hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and that was all the scoring LA needed. The bullpen held on. But the story was Sasaki and whether this night is the start of something bigger.
If he can keep the velo up and maybe add another wrinkle to the heater, Roberts’ rotation suddenly looks a lot deeper. And Sasaki looks a lot more like the guy the Dodgers thought they were getting.
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