Buck Draws Fire! Showalter’s Blunt Take on Rōki Sasaki Sparks Backlash
Baseball fans have eagerly anticipated seeing how Roki Sasaki’s electric arsenal would fare in the Majors, and as the winners of the Sasaki sweepstakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers got the first glimpse of his potential against big-league competition. However, Buck Showalter doesn’t seem particularly impressed with the Dodgers’ newest acquisition.
“There must’ve been 50 people standing around. First of all, how do you have that many players standing around? Don’t you have something to do?” said Showalter.
The 23-year-old tossed 27 pitches across two innings of live batting practice on Wednesday, attracting a sizable audience for his first live batting practice session of the spring on Wednesday. It wasn’t just fans who gathered—teammates, coaches, and front-office personnel lined up behind home plate and along the sides to get a closer look.
“You got that many people watching your first outing. Your whole country and everybody in the States is watching you. You don’t think he feels some pressure to turn up the dial a little bit? You don’t need eight catchers in camp. It’s about getting your Major League team ready. You know it’s not a tryout camp, and if you don’t know who your prospects are by then, you’re probably down a bad road anyway,” Buck Showalter continued.
Roki Sasaki on live-batting practice with the Dodgers
Sasaki pitched two innings, giving up a pair of line-drive hits but keeping the rest of the contact on the ground. Sasaki relied primarily on his fastball and splitter while occasionally mixing in sliders, a pitch he’s still refining.
The Japanese sensation viewed Wednesday’s live BP as a step up from his two previous bullpen sessions in camp. His splitter, which has drawn plenty of attention this spring, lived up to the hype. Known for its sharp movement, the pitch fooled Eddie Rosario twice in a row, resulting in Sasaki’s lone swinging strikeout of the session.
Sasaki’s slider remains a work in progress. With his primary focus on fine-tuning his fastball-splitter combination for game action, he has been gradually incorporating his third pitch. He tested it against Tommy Edman and threw several more to veteran infielder David Bote, a non-roster invitee in camp.
Sasaki fine-tuning his slider
As Sasaki continues to fine-tune his slider, questions remain about whether he needs another dependable pitch to excel as a Major League starter. The Dodgers are eager to develop his repertoire further, but their priority is helping him adjust to the big leagues before making major tweaks.
Last month, Sasaki signed a minor league deal with a $6.5 million signing bonus as an international amateur free agent under MLB rules, departing the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines through the posting system. Had he waited two more years, he likely would have secured a nine-figure contract as a free agent unrestricted by signing bonus pools.
Sasaki joins two other Japanese players on the roster: National League MVP Shohei Ohtani and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
