Roki Sasaki — the latest, biggest addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers superteam — made headlines last week when he announced his marriage on Instagram.
The lucky lady — along with millions of fans in Los Angeles and back home in Japan — must be eagerly anticipating the pitching phenom’s MLB debut.
Sasaki’s first regular-season start with the Dodgers is expected to take place not in L.A., but in Japan, where his new team and the Chicago Cubs will kick off the 2025 season 10 days before everyone else as they battle it out in the Tokyo Series.
The Dodgers now boast Japan’s three top players on their roster — Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Sasaki — making it only fitting that they open their season across the Pacific in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier this month that Yamamoto will likely start Game 1 on March 18, followed by Sasaki in Game 2 on March 19.
Tickets for those games are selling for as high as $20,000 in the resale market.
Roki Sasaki Makes Spring Training Debut This Week
Fans eager to see Sasaki’s electric stuff stateside won’t have to wait until the Dodgers’ first regular season home series on March 27 against the Detroit Tigers.
Sasaki is set to pitch in his first game in the U.S. this week in spring training. But the Dodgers are treating Sasaki carefully. Last year, he exhibited declines in his velocity and has a history of elbow and shoulder issues — possibly the result of his vicious splitter.
The humble hurler also regards himself as a work in progress — despite having already thrown a perfect game. (He would have had a second had his manager not yanked him out of the next game at the end of eight innings.)
Sasaki is scheduled to make his first appearance this Tuesday at the Dodgers’ spring training facility at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, in a “modified B game” against the Chicago White Sox, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
The Dodgers’ Sasaki Strategy
With a roster so stacked with stars it could fill two or three MLB teams, the Dodgers are in no rush with Sasaki. At just 23 years old, he’s seen as the franchise’s future ace — and notably, the only Dodgers starter born this century.
The oldest of the Dodgers’ eventual six-man rotation — Blake Snell (32), Tyler Glasnow (31), and Ohtani (30) — are not ancient by any means. But L.A., now arguably baseball’s Evil Empire — has time on its side and an abundance of talent. That allows the Dodgers to treat the splitter-throwing Sasaki with an abundance of caution.
Sasaki will round out the five-man rotation to start the season, which will expand to six once Ohtani returns to pitching.
The Dodgers have the luxury of taking their time with Sasaki and ensuring that this golden prospect remains exactly that.
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