TOKYO — (AP) — Roki Sasaki's Major League Baseball debut was equal parts electrifying and erratic, with the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander displaying a powerful arm but also a wild streak that limited his outing to three innings on Wednesday night at the Tokyo Dome.
The Japanese phenom — who was pitching in a pressure-packed debut in front of his home country — gave up just one run and one hit while striking out three, but also walked five batters, including one free pass that forced in a run.
He threw 56 pitches, including 31 balls and 25 strikes.
The 23-year-old's first six pitches of his career blazed toward the plate at 99.5, 99.5, 100, 100.5, 99.4 and 98.9 mph and he retired the first three Chicago Cubs batters in order, including countryman Seiya Suzuki on a swinging strikeout.
Sasaki was obviously amped for the first inning and his grunts echoed throughout the Tokyo Dome as he fired his fastball. The lanky 6-foot-2 pitcher signed a minor league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus back in January, becoming the 13th Japanese player to join the franchise.
Sasaki ran into trouble in the second inning, walking Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson before he was aided by some good fortune. With one out, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a hard liner that was snagged by shortstop Miguel Rojas, who was then able to step on second base to double up Busch for the final two outs.
In the third, Jon Berti reached on an infield single and Sasaki walked Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker, which forced in a run and cut the Dodgers advantage to 3-1. But the rookie recovered, striking out Busch and Matt Shaw to end the threat.
After Sasaki's initial burst of triple-digit velocity, he settled into the 97-99 mph range, and his famed splitter was occasionally spectacular, but often out of the strike zone.
Sasaki left the game with the Dodgers holding a 5-1 lead.
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