Key takeaways from Roki Sasaki's Cactus League debut

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The baseball world had its first taste of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki on Tuesday night in Camelback Ranch, where he went three scoreless innings, only allowing two hits on one walk and striking out five Reds. Here is a deeper dive into his performance: 

Pitching arsenal

In true Sasaki fashion, he primarily threw four-seamers and splitters, occasionally mixing in three sliders. He delivered 46 pitches, 26 of which were strikes, and recorded eight swings-and-misses. Seven out of those eight whiffs came from his splitter, his most effective pitch during the outing. 

"I really worked hard in the lab, dug into the mechanical aspect of my form and things I do well and things I wasn't doing well," Sasaki said.  

Sasaki averaged 57.1% with his four-seamer, clocking in at an average speed of 98.3 mph and achieving a whiff percentage of 14.3%. His splitter was thrown 80% of the time and boasted an impressive whiff percentage of 80%, confirming its effectiveness. 

"That's the best we've seen him," manager Dave Roberts stated in his postgame interview. "And you would expect that, given he's now really in compete mode; the adrenaline is real."

Adversity

It was not all smooth sailing for Sasaki, as he was caught in some jams in his outing, but he showcased quickly that he could pitch through the adversity. In his very first inning of work, the Reds were making contact with his pitches early as the first batter he faced, Noelvi Marte, grounded out to Mookie Betts on a first-pitch fastball. Sasaki gave up a single to the next Reds hitter, Austin Wynns, and would hit Stuart Fairchild with a pitch. Quickly, it was runners on first and second with one out, and the mental toughness of Sasaki would be on full display as he would punch out the next two batters looking at splitters in the zone. 

"A couple of things that I noticed with big league hitters," Sasaki said, "they do hit mistakes, and they do take some splits that I threw. As long as I am able to throw quality pitches, I should be able to get these guys out." 

What to expect next from Sasaki 

Sasaki's next start is slated for sometime next week, most likely Tuesday, as stated by Dave Roberts. "We gotta have him make a start, it's probably a week. [Yamamoto] is gonna go on Monday, so you would think the next day, Tuesday, is gonna be his day," Roberts said. 

Sasaki is expected to be alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the two starters to begin the Dodgers season opener in Japan when they face the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19.