Healthy and stronger, Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki in better position to succeed in 2nd season

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Roki Sasaki was credited with three saves during the Dodgers’ postseason run last October.

But his late-season move to the bullpen might have saved the whole year for him.

“It was really nice for myself to be able to see myself succeed at this level,” Sasaki said through an interpreter Sunday. “It’s a whole different mindset going into this spring training if I didn’t succeed the way I did last postseason.”

Indeed, compared to the hype that surrounded his move to MLB, Sasaki’s rookie season was a big disappointment. He struggled to put away major-league hitters, was out of the Dodgers’ starting rotation by mid-May and spent most of the season on the sidelines. The Dodgers had tried to emphasize the young right-hander was a work in progress when he made the jump from Japan. His results as a rookie seemed to prove it.

“Reflecting back on my last year, I just felt like I just stumbled with my own responsibility in the sense that it wasn’t really about the level of Major League Baseball or the hitters. It was just really more about things that I could’ve controlled that I didn’t,” Sasaki said. “So, this year coming into the year – my goal is to be able to pitch throughout the entire season. And I think that will allow me to be able to show what I have to work on in the big-league level.”

A big part of his late-season revival in relief was the strength he had gained while on the injured list and adjustments he had made in his delivery. He arrived in camp this spring feeling healthy, with a stronger shoulder, “and also my mechanics are in a way better spot than last year.”

He showed that during a live batting practice session Sunday when he touched 98 mph while throwing to Hyeseong Kim and non-roster catcher Seby Zavala.

The 24-year-old right-hander certainly seems to be in a better position to succeed this season, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said after watching the live BP.

“I think it’s mechanics. It helps he had a really good offseason of strength and flexibility and the whole thing,” Gomes said. “The total package of what was a strong offseason, to come in and the early signs of the bullpens we’ve seen up to this point and since he’s been out here has been really encouraging. So excited for him to undertake a full season.”

The Dodgers will be even more excited if Sasaki can expand his arsenal beyond the four-seam fastball and splitter that were enough to dominate Japanese batters. His slider was an inadequate companion piece last season and he is working with a new grip as well as adding a cutter and two-seam fastball to his pitch mix this year.

Expanding his repertoire, particularly against right-handed batters, will be important this season, Sasaki acknowledged.

“The sliders that I threw last year weren’t good. Results-wise, it wasn’t good too,” he said. “This year, I want to focus more on the gyro-spin slider. Today I haven’t thrown the two-seamer, but that’s also in the works.”

Sasaki is “fully capable” of mastering the new pitches, Gomes said.

“In the past, you have the fastball and split that are incredibly dominant. Last year, I don’t think he was ever in a great spot health-wise until the end of the year,” Gomes said. “All of the stuff that we’ve seen so far, he’s looked really, really good. The bullpens have been exceptional, the pitch movements. He’s throwing the cutter, sinker. He’s having an expanded arsenal.

“If he’s executing the fastball and the split the way he’s capable of, with what he’s done in the past, an amazing foundation. Anything on top of that is just gonna make things more challenging for the opposing hitters.”

MONEY TALK

While owners around MLB are bemoaning the Dodgers’ big spending and are prepared to battle for a salary cap when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires next winter, players think all the fat checks being written by the Dodgers are just great.

“I (bleeping) love it,” Padres star Manny Machado told reporters in camp on Sunday, claiming that all teams have the wherewithal to match the Dodgers. “Every team should be doing it. That (stuff) is (bleeping) great for the game.”

Meanwhile, at Phillies camp in Florida, Bryce Harper offered a strong defense of the way the Dodgers go about their business.

“I love what the Dodgers do, obviously,” Harper told reporters. “I mean, they pay the money. They spend the money.

“It bothers me when everybody talks about the Dodgers spending money. No. They draft. They develop. They do it the right way. They understand what it takes to be the best team in baseball.”

Gomes was asked about the comments from Machado and Harper and whether they provide any validation for the way the Dodgers operate.

“The validation is winning championships and putting out as good a team as you can each and every year,” the GM said.

ALSO

Catcher Ben Rortvedt was claimed on waivers by the New York Mets. Rortvedt was designated for assignment earlier this week when the Dodgers re-signed right-hander Evan Phillips.