SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was hit hard and had a tough time finding the strike zone in his first spring training outing on Wednesday, giving up three runs, three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The hard-throwing Japanese pitcher is trying for a rotation spot after a breakout performance as a reliever in last year’s postseason, when he helped the Dodgers win a second straight World Series.
He flashed his usual power fastball and splitter on Wednesday — striking out three — but just 17 of his 36 pitches were strikes. He also mixed in a cutter as he tried to add a third pitch to his arsenal.
“I thought he was overthrowing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I haven’t seen that all spring. It’s probably just getting into live competition. I thought he was a little too bullish on the fastball, but he was getting behind in the first inning.”
Sasaki gave up a hard-hit single to leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo, and Tim Tawa walked. With one out, Nolan Arenado hit a line-drive double to left that scored Perdomo. Ildemaro Vargas followed with another double, scoring Tawa and Arenado for a 3-0 lead.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Mark Prior, Sasaki struck out Jordan Lawlar and Ryan Waldschmidt to end the inning.
Sasaki struck out Druw Jones leading off the second, then walked Aramis Garcia and was removed. His fastball topped out at 98.6 mph.
Roberts said he wasn’t drawing too many conclusions from one spring training outing, but also acknowledged that Sasaki’s under a little more scrutiny than most players.
“I think the first thing is he’s got to mix better and command the fastball,” Roberts said. “I just attribute it to first-game adrenaline. But yeah, you want to see progress from everyone, especially someone like Roki who is trying to build off of last year.”
The lanky 24-year-old entered his rookie year with a lot of fanfare in 2025, but didn’t pitch much during the regular season, finishing 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA over 36 1/3 erratic innings. He appeared in 10 games, starting eight, and missed more than four months because of a right shoulder impingement.
Sasaki returned in September and became a key piece of the bullpen during the postseason, giving up just one earned run over 10 2/3 innings and earning three saves.
Sasaki agreed to a minor league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus last offseason, becoming the 13th Japanese player to join the franchise.
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