Roki Sasaki’s first start after the All-Star break was more than just a strong outing for the Dodgers. It was a velocity showcase that put him in the record book.
Over 5.2 innings, Sasaki fired 21 pitches at 100 mph or higher, the most by a Dodgers pitcher in the Statcast era, which dates back to 2008, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. That topped Bobby Miller’s previous mark of 20.
Sasaki also reached 101 mph or better eight times. He said the jump in velocity came after he made a tweak to his delivery.
“It’s just one game, so it’s hard to tell what’s exactly going on,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “I kind of changed the way I use my lower body, so I think it helped to get my velo up.”
Even with the extra heat, Sasaki said the effort didn’t feel forced.
“It didn’t actually feel like I had great intensity, but the velo was there,” he said. “I think it was a good thing.”
The results backed it up. Sasaki gave up just one unearned run on five hits, struck out five and walked one. He also generated 16 swings and misses, and his 35.6% swing-and-miss rate was his second-best in a start this season, behind only April 12, when he posted a 37.5% mark.
His average fastball velocity landed at 100.1 mph, his best in a start this season. That easily cleared the 98.8 mph he averaged on June 12. Last season, his highest average was 98 mph in his opening start in Japan.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed by what he saw.
“Very impressive,” Roberts said. “Gosh, the velocity was up. He dialed it up and it sort of reminded me of when Yamamoto was here a couple years ago, and that performance he put out.
“The velocity and everything ticked up. You could see the focus. I think it was one of those things where he wanted to get off on the right foot in the second half.”
Roberts also pointed to the added margin that comes with that kind of fastball.
“It’s a big difference,” Roberts said of the velocity. “You just don’t know if 101, 102 (mph) is going to be out there every start.
It certainly gives you a lot more margin, but even with that, his split command was really good. He got a lot of swing and miss with it.”
The Dodgers had already been digging into Sasaki’s mechanics after a rough July 2 outing against the San Diego Padres, when he allowed three home runs in the first two innings and six earned runs overall. Following that start, the club studied him closely, and Roberts said the right-hander was giving away cues to hitters that needed to be corrected.
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