Roki Sasaki punches out eight and tops out at 100 mph in recent rehab outing

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The tide may be turning for the Los Angeles Dodgers' 23-year-old rookie flamethrower Roki Sasaki as he showcased his best rehab outing on Tuesday afternoon for the OKC Comets. 

Tuesday afternoon marked Sasaki's fifth rehab start, and in comparison to the previous four in which he had an ERA of 7, it was a night-and-day performance. Sasaki left the mound with a final line score of 4 2/3 innings pitched, allowing three earned runs on three hits, four walks, and striking out eight batters on 90 pitches.

The right-hander was steady from the start, retiring the first 12 out of 15 batters he faced to open his outing on the mound. He was using his fastball early, which seemed to increase in velocity with each pitch, even reaching up to 100 mph — a speed we haven't seen from Sasaki since he's been on the mound for rehab assignments.  

Mechanical tweaks seem to have improved the velocity for Sasaki, which has translated to the field. 

"The way I used my lower body a bit off for the past one or two years. I feel like I remembered how to do it, or maybe that’s what improved it," Sasaki told the media after his start yesterday. 

Along with that steady fastball, his most reliable pitch, his splitter, paired with his heater nicely as he generated a whiff rate of 75%. Sasaki, who teased a new pitch would be added to his arsenal, was on full display in this outing as well, as he showcased a slider that produced the highest whiff rate of the evening at 83.3%.  

This could mark the end of Sasaki's rehab outings for the time being, and the Dodgers front office has the final say in whether or not they will utilize the 23-year-old postseason roster with October just a few weeks away.