Roki Sasaki takes another step forward, Dodgers’ offense regresses in laugher of a loss
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This is Roki Sasaki’s home now. The San Gabriel Mountains at his back as he stands atop the mound at Dodger Stadium. Stands filled with adoring fans. Warm spring evenings that soon will slip into summer swelter.
Sasaki, 23, is beginning to feel comfortable in Chavez Ravine and with the heat that comes with choosing the Dodgers among scads of suitors when he left his native Japan in January. He is under team control for six seasons at a bargain rate, and the Dodgers are perfectly willing to allow him the space and time to become acclimated.
The right-hander made his fourth start Saturday — his second at Dodger Stadium — and it was his best yet, lasting five sturdy innings against the Chicago Cubs. Sasaki was nicked by a solo home run from former Dodger Michael Busch to lead off the second but pitched out of jams in the third and fifth, the former thanks to a leaping catch at the center field wall by Andy Pages that prevented a grand slam.
Sasaki was failed only by the Dodgers’ inability to generate offense in a historic 16-0 loss to the Cubs in front of a sellout crowd of 53,887. They couldn’t generate offense against starter Ben Brown, who came in with an earned-run average of 7.71 that shrunk to 5.09 after six scoreless innings.
“Giving the context that I hadn’t reached the five-inning mark the last three outings, I think it was really important that I was able to reach that point, and I hope to be able to do that as a minimum going forward,” Sasaki said through an interpreter.
The game turned into a literal laugher after the Cubs pounded relievers Ben Casparius and Luis García for 10 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Infielder Miguel Rojas finished the eighth and pitched the ninth, emulating the deliveries of Sasaki and other Dodgers pitchers while lobbing 40-mph cupcakes that the Cubs crushed for another five runs.
Rojas wore Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s blue glove, wiggled the ball in it and hesitated during his windup. He raised his glove high above his head going into the stretch a la Clayton Kershaw. He even tried to look like Sasaki, bending his back knee and lifting his front leg uncomfortably high before releasing the ball.
“Ever since last year when I got the opportunity to pitch, I was trying to imitate my teammates that I play behind,” Rojas said. “I was just trying to keep it loose on a night like this. The game was close until the sixth. Roki had a good outing.”
Asked to rate Rojas’ imitation, Sasaki laughed and said, “100%.”
Rather than distance himself from his painful memories in Rikuzentakata, Roki Sasaki has taken a proactive approach to preserve his more pleasant recollections of his upbringing.
The Cubs didn’t seem to mind Rojas adding levity, probably because they were having too much fun of their own. They pounded the three Dodgers relievers for 17 of their 21 hits and the batting average of nearly everyone in the lineup benefited from facing Rojas.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemed almost relieved that his team didn’t wallow in the misery of the worst home shutout loss in franchise history. It also marked the first time the Dodgers were shut out at Dodger Stadium since May 12 and the first time they’d been shut out anywhere since July 26.
“I guess a little bit of levity in a game like that is certainly helpful,” Roberts said. “It just shows [Rojas] watches the games. To be able to throw two innings was huge for us, and we needed every bit of that.”
Especially with the offense suddenly struggling. The Dodgers’ only runs in two games against the Cubs to begin this six-game homestand came on a three-run home run by Tommy Edman in Friday’s 3-0 Dodgers victory in which Yamamoto tossed six scoreless innings. The Dodgers have defeated the Cubs in three of four meetings this season — the first two coming in Tokyo — despite being outscored 20-13.
Still, the memory of Sasaki’s step in the right direction lingered.
“Today the hope was for him to build on the last start and for me that was the silver lining of the night,” Roberts said. “Probably the most important piece of the game was for him to get better, go deeper in the game and throw strikes.”
Sasaki’s first start as a Dodger, remember, came in his homeland four weeks ago, and it didn’t go well. Neither did his second start, his Dodger Stadium debut a second consecutive blur of wayward pitches, walks, hits and runs. He recorded only five outs and fought back tears.
His third start was better, giving up one run in four innings while throwing first-pitch strikes to 13 of 17 batters. And his fourth was better yet. Sasaki established his four-seam fastball early, then leaned on his devastating splitter and functional slider as his pitch count rose and he faced batters a third time. He threw 81 pitches, 50 for strikes.
“I hit my stride after the first inning and overall had a lot better command,” Sasaki said. “That’s something I was able to continue from my last outing.”
Dylan Hernández writes Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has matured and improved since last season, asserting himself as a Cy Young candidate.
OKC is looking at a big league week
Kershaw is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment Wednesday at the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. The future Hall of Fame left-hander is not eligible to be activated from the injured list until May 17.
Two other Dodgers pitchers recovering from injuries will pitch at Oklahoma City on Tuesday: starter Tony Gonsolin and reliever Evan Phillips. Gonsolin will make his third rehab appearance after striking out seven in 3⅓ innings Wednesday in Round Rock, Texas.
“Things are slowly moving forward,” said Roberts, who added that injured reliever Michael Kopech will throw a second bullpen Tuesday and starter Blake Snell will begin throwing Monday.
Bobby Miller is likely to be called up from Oklahoma City to make a start for the Dodgers on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies, meaning Yamamoto won’t pitch again until Friday to open a series at Texas.
The rehab and roster shuffling nearly obscured a bullpen session at Dodger Stadium, this one the third in two weeks by Shohei Ohtani. The right-hander recovering from elbow surgery threw 30 pitches, nearly all four-seam and two-seam fastballs, although he did mix in a few split-fingered fastballs.
Crow-Armstrong offered an extension
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who grew up in Sherman Oaks and starred at Harvard-Westlake High, recently was offered a long-term contract extension but has not accepted it, according to MLB.com.
Crow-Armstrong, 23, is a talented defensive player with elite speed. He has 35 stolen bases in 40 attempts in 152 major league games, but hasn’t proved he can hit consistently. The left-handed batter and fielder is hitting .224 with 10 home runs in 446 at-bats in parts of three seasons entering Saturday’s game.
He did bat .260 during the second half last season and hit .500 in spring training this year. Whether his bat continues to improve will determine if he blossoms into a star or settles in as a great glove-fair hitter in the mold of Harrison Bader, Billy Hamilton or Peter Bourjos.
Other premier young outfield talents who recently signed long-term extensions included Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres (nine years, $135 million), Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks (eight years, $111 million) and Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves (eight years, $72 million).
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