Breaking: Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman Reveals Plan to Pair Rōki Sasaki with Shohei Ohtani
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a big picture vision for stretching out to Japan. The defending World Series champions have branched out to the nation before, through adding Hideo Nomo in 1995. But Andrew Friedman visualized his true goals for the Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani pairing.
The Japanese duo are fueling the excitement among Dodger fans locally in L.A. for the 2025 campaign. The Dodgers’ president of baseball operations Friedman, though, hopes the fan energy stretches globally — which he shared on the Starkville Podcast Saturday.
“Our hope is that (an) 8-, 9- or 10-year-old kid who is the next Shohei or Roki or Yamamoto is wearing a Dodgers hat, and (thinking), ‘I want to be a Dodger,” Friedman shared.
There you have it — Friedman wants kids from the “land of the rising sun” to picture themselves as Dodgers now more than ever. Especially with Sasaki adding to the representation.
Ohtani is already a beloved figure in the L.A. region. Even the small L.A. community of Little Tokyo painted an Ohtani mural in the spring of 2024, commemorating his arrival to the franchise. Ohtani has even given Sasaki his praise, saying how the newcomer has looked great so far. Ohtani and Sasaki now have Friedman thinking about growing the Japanese Dodgers fandom.
Were Roki Sasaki/Shohei Ohtani in action for Dodgers-Royals?
Both men are getting their chemistry going in Arizona for spring training. They’ve joined the rest of the blue crew at Camelback Ranch. But is manager Dave Roberts already putting both men in action during Cactus League play?
Sasaki and Ohtani were nowhere near the final stat sheet for Saturday’s tilt against the Kansas City Royals. They instead watched K.C. take the 11-10 shootout win.
Roberts threw out 10 different options on the mound against the American League foe. Seven different L.A. pitchers — Nick Frasso, Jared Karros, Jose Rodriguez, Jack Little, Ronan Kopp, Robinson Ortiz, and Julian Fernandez — all struck out one batter.
Little, however, allowed the most hits at four during his lone inning of action. Fernandez surrendered the second-most at three.
The Dodgers smacked 10 hits at the bat. Max Muncy ripped one home run. Zyhir Hope and Hunter Feduccia blasted one fair ball over the fence too. The latter Dodger drove the most runners in at five and also led the way with three hits.
Los Angeles continues Cactus League play on Sunday against National League West rival the San Diego Padres for a 12:05 p.m. PT contest.
