A nervous Roki Sasaki steadies himself in Dodgers season debut after a shaky spring

He walked 15 batters during spring training, raising concerns about his ability to perform as a starter.

"I actually didn’t have the confidence at all when this game started,” Sasaki said through a translator, “but I was just focusing on doing what I can control.”

José Ramírez, Cleveland's best hitter, singled in the first inning before Sasaki got him on a swinging strikeout in the third with runners on first and second and the Dodgers trailing 1-0.

“It should be a big boost to his confidence,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a confident player, but when you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence. But when you perform, you start to build true confidence, so hopefully he can build on this one.”

Roberts detected Sasaki's self-doubt in the first inning, when the 24-year-old pitcher got two quick outs before Ramírez singled and stole second.

“It was a wait-and-see kind of demeanor in the sense of you know what you’re supposed to do, know what you want to do, and until you actually do it, holding your breath a little bit,” the manager said. “Once he got out of that inning he was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’ and then wanted to go out there and keep doing it.”

Dalton Rushing, the 25-year-old backup to catcher Will Smith, called the game behind the plate while Smith got the night off.

Rushing used the time walking in from the bullpen with Sasaki to pump him up.

“I told him it was just me and him, just kind of tunnel vision to an extent and trust what you do,” Rushing said. “You were a really good pitcher for a long time in Japan for a reason. You’ve been a great pitcher for us last year down the stretch."

Sasaki was supposed to be the next big thing coming out of Nippon Professional Baseball. He signed with the Dodgers in January 2025, but by mid-May he was on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement.

After a long rehab assignment in the minors, he rejoined the Dodgers in late September as a reliever. He made eight starts and two relief appearances overall, going 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA, 28 strikeouts and 22 walks.

His best moments as a rookie came out of the bullpen. He earned his first professional save closing out the first game of the National League Division Series against Philadelphia. He pitched in three games in the series, earning two saves and then working three perfect innings in relief in the clinching fourth game.

In the World Series against Toronto, Sasaki pitched 2 2/3 innings over two games, and Los Angeles went on to win in seven games.

Sasaki remains intent on making it as a starter, and the Dodgers are giving him the chance to find himself again.

“The goal is to keep going deeper in games,” Roberts said. “I know he was a little bit nervous going into this start about what to expect. He responded well.”

Rushing called it “a very big step forward” for Sasaki.

“We’re going to build off this,” the catcher said. “We’re going to sit down and talk, see what we could have done better, refine some things and look forward to having him out there next time.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb