The Respect is Real! Will Smith Praises Rōki Sasaki, But is This a Warning Sign for Dodgers Fans?

The rich got richer this offseason in the MLB, as it was the Los Angeles Dodgers that won the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes after the 23-year-old Japanese international whittled down his preferred destinations to the final three — Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers can already financially outmuscle most other teams in the big leagues, but for them to win the services of an international free agent — someone who can sign with any team due to the financial restrictions imposed upon such players — makes them quite the cheat code of a franchise.

Heading into the 2025 season, there’s no reason to believe that the Dodgers aren’t the favorite to win the World Series, which would then make them the first repeat champion in the MLB in the 21st century. And fans of the reigning champion squad will only grow happier when they hear the rave reviews catcher Will Smith has for their new Japanese pitching phenom.

“He looks really good. I think he struck us all out so he’s in a really good spot. You can tell he put in some work in the offseason. Didn’t skip a beat. I know he’s been good. I think he’ll have a pretty good year this year,” Smith told reporters, via SportsNet LA.

One of Sasaki’s main selling points as a starter is his incredible strikeout potential; last season in the NPB, the 23-year-old struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings en route to putting up an ERA of 2.35. And as the Dodgers saw with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, these numbers tend to translate stateside.

The crucial part now for the Dodgers is to make sure that Sasaki is comfortable. And Smith will be playing a huge part in that as his batterymate.

Dodgers look to bring out the best in Roki Sasaki

As talented as MLB players are, adjustment periods are never a joke. For Roki Sasaki, while joining the Dodgers means that he’ll have fellow Japanese brethren Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto around to make him comfortable, he is still playing in an unfamiliar territory against advanced competition.

Nonetheless, Dodgers catcher Will Smith has high hopes for how Sasaki’s career in the big leagues will progress, even in his rookie campaign.

“It’s going to be a work-in-progress all year, all next year, just fine-tuning, developing him, and developing our relationship. You want it to get off to a good start and Spring Training is the perfect place to do that,” Smith added.