"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Clippers star Rui Hachimura and L.A. Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.
The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.
LOS ANGELES – Roki Sasaki (5-5) tosses five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth, but earns his fifth victory with some help from the bullpen as the host Los Angeles Dodgers top the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night in interleague action. Sasaki goes 5.1 innings, surrenders a pair of runs on five hits and three walks with seven Ks.
Q: Roki, we’ve talked to you after the last two outings, just as to how sharp the splitter has been, just your stuff in general. What is it like when you’re now building these outings, just building your confidence?
Sasaki: I haven’t changed anything in particular with the way I throw it or the grip it. I would say my overall fastball form, which I’ve worked on through trial and error, I think has gotten better and has started to impact my forkball over time.
Q: What were you finding just as that game went on in that sixth inning specifically, did you find that it was either running out of steam or were they just adjusting and attacking you differently?
Sasaki: Well, as far as the sequencing of the pitches goes, I won’t get too deep into that because we have still have games to play, but I think we could have done something differently with building counts, and it was the third time through the order and the leadoff man opened the inning. So, I should have gotten focused and reset myself mentally just like the previous inning.
Q: You’ve been throwing your splitter pretty hard. What does that allow the rest of your pitches to do when that split is more 93-94?
Sasaki: Well, along the speed, I think the downward movement was also there tonight, so that was a positive as far as that goes. I was able to get the ball over the plate a lot today, and I think that was why I was able to pitch well through five innings.
Q: Did this start feel like a step forward after the last couple or was that sixth inning kins of disappointing to finish that way?
Sasaki: Hmm, well, it was good up until the fifth inning. In the sixth, Jack (Dreyer) gave me a lift (in relief) and I ultimately allowed two runs, so in the end, it wasn’t a good inning and I have to reflect on that. But the things that were positive for five innings, I have to keep that visualization in mind and reflect on what happened the third time through the order and make that work for me in the next game.
Q: Do you feel that changing gloves has made any difference for you?
Sasaki: Not that, much … I think no.