Dodgers Catcher Reacts to Roki Sasaki's Struggles in Dodger Stadium Debut

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki made his Dodger Stadium debut Saturday against the Detroit Tigers.

The Japanese fireballer lasted just 1.2 innings before manager Dave Roberts pulled him out of the game. Sasaki, who was highly-sought by numerous teams this winter, allowed four walks and recorded just five outs for the Dodgers. He threw 32 strikes on 61 pitches.

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Will Smith spoke about the rookie's struggles Saturday night.

“Dodger Stadium’s intimidating. There’s four decks here. It’s loud. It’s fun. It takes a lot to be able to perform here,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “We have full confidence in Roki. He’ll settle in. He’ll start pitching better. He’ll start dominating the (strike) zone. He’ll be really good for us.”

It was evident the right-hander had trouble finding the strike zone, and his splitter did not fool the Detroit Tigers lineup. Regardless, Smith still believes in Sasaki (as should fans).

“It’s probably one of the best splitters I’ve ever caught. It’s nasty,” Smith said. “I think it just comes back to controlling the zone. Just falling behind in counts, not winning those battles, getting ahead early and really keeping them off balance. They’re able to just check off it.

“It’s definitely a really, really good pitch. Really good fastball, really good slider. But it’s the big leagues. It’s hard, and he’s going to learn. He’s going to get better. He’s going to be really, really good for us.”

During Sasaki's free agency process, his agent Joel Wolfe made it clear that his client was not a finished product. There was bound to be some growing pains in Sasaki's transition from Nippon Professional Baseball to stateside baseball.

Every athlete falls down, what matters is if they get up.

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