Roki Sasaki’s Cactus League debut against the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night at Camelback Ranch met any expectations the Los Angeles Dodgers should have had for him.
In three scoreless innings, the rookie right-hander allowed two hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out five.
Sasaki came out throwing 99 mph and kept hitters off-balance when he broke out his signature splitter and slider. He managed to get eight whiffs with seven coming against the splitter.
Sasaki entered the contest in the fifth inning and faced trouble early. Blame it on first game jitters because he settled in nicely after allowing a single to Austin Wynns and then hitting Stuart Fairchild on the very next pitch.