SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A third pitch for Roki Sasaki?
What about a first?
You know, the fastball.
Because if Sasaki can’t locate that where he wants, as was the case Wednesday in his first start of the exhibition season, it won’t matter if he learns to throw a cutter or slider or whatever he wants to call his new pitch that breaks to his glove side.
Smokey Bear threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Dodgers’ road game against the Diamondbacks, and that was entirely appropriate, as Sasaki resembled a wildfire — maximum heat with minimal control.
The Dodgers surprise closer on their most recent World Series run, the 24-year-old Sasaki looked uncomfortably similar to how he did in his failed bid as a starter early last season. He missed often, and he missed by a lot, throwing only 17 of his 36 pitches for strikes.
A scheduled two-inning start against the Diamondbacks was cut short after he walked the second batter of the second inning on five pitches.
In total, Sasaki gave up three hits, including two doubles, and two walks. He was charged with three runs. He touched 96.9 mph with his fastball.
“I thought he was overthrowing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
For what it’s worth, Sasaki sounded entirely unconcerned about how he pitched.
“At this stage (of the year), I generally don’t have it all together,” he said in Japanese. “I think my control is something that will gradually become better.”
He chose to view spring training up to this point in its entirety and was pleased with the progress he has made, his start against the Diamondbacks notwithstanding.
“Physically, I’m in a much better place than I was last year,” Sasaki said. “I personally think my delivery is coming along nicely. I just feel that I was able to do more of what I wanted in my bullpens. I think there are parts of me that were affected by the nerves of pitching in a game.”
The pitch clock also disrupted his timing, he said.
Heavily reliant on his fastball and forkball from his time pitching for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese league, Sasaki has worked on adding a cutter or slider to his arsenal, along with a sinker that moves in the opposite direction. Sasaki threw 11 cutters against the Diamondbacks, the majority of them in a three-run first inning. He also threw four sinkers, including one that was clocked at 95.1 mph. He used a PitchCom device to call his own pitches.
‘It was an exhibition game, so I threw the pitches I wanted to work on,” he said.
As if to downplay the results of his first Cactus League start, Sasaki pointed to how his forkball was his most effective pitch. In bullpen sessions and live batting practice, he said the pitch was his worst.
“On the other hand,” he said, “I felt like my fastball was better in the bullpen.”
The Dodgers’ concern is that Sasaki doesn’t have much of a track record in the major leagues. Most of the limited success he enjoyed last year was as a closer, a position he inherited by default because the team didn’t have any other late-inning options.
Sasaki had exceptional control in Japan but has looked like an entirely different pitcher in the United States. His lack of fastball command last year was blamed on a shoulder impingement that sidelined him for four months. So, what should be made of his game against the Diamondbacks? Typical early-spring rustiness as Sasaki suggested?
His fastball and forkball are his foundation. His new pitches are intended to provide misdirection to make his signature offerings more effective, not replace them.
While Roberts said he attributed Sasaki’s control problems to “first-game adrenaline,” he said he wanted to see more signs of progress from him throughout the exhibition season.
Sasaki was confident that would happen.
He pitched in only two exhibition games as a rookie before taking the mound in the Dodgers’ season-opening series in Tokyo last year. This time around, he expects to make six exhibition starts.
“With five more games remaining, I think I can prepare myself well,” Sasaki said.
With Roberts sounding as if his place in the rotation is secure, the Dodgers have to trust that Sasaki knows what he’s doing.