Roki Sasaki did not make it out of the second inning during his United States debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday afternoon and appeared to cry in the dugout after getting pulled.
Former MLB All-Star Eric Hosmer, who was watching at home on his couch, also believes that he was cheating.
The Japanese phenom has yet to adjust to his new role with the reigning World Series champions through two starts and his emotions raise some concerns about the comments made by his agent during the free agency process.
Sasaki, 23, went 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan.
He chose to sign with the Dodgers in January as the most sought-after international free agent on the market.
Although Los Angeles offered him a fat signing bonus to play in the MLB alongside Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on an immediate World Series contender, it was a little bit of a surprise.
His agent, Joel Wolfe, initially suggested that his client might be better suited in a smaller market. The reason for his thinking stemmed from how Sasaki was treated by the media in Japan.
I think that there’s an argument to be made that a small or mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan, given what he’s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media. It might be… I’m not saying it will be, but I do’’t know how he’s going to view it; it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market.
— Joel Wolfe in December
And then he signed with the Dodgers. So… the opposite of a small market.
Roki Sasaki made his MLB debut in his home country against the Cubs. He allowed one run on one hit with five walks and three strikeouts in three innings.
Not bad. Not great.
The second start of his career was rough.
Sasaki gave up two runs on three hits with four walks and two strikeouts in just 1.2 innings of work. Dave Roberts pulled him before he reached the second inning against the Tigers.
Eric Hosmer presented a unique hypothesis about the early struggles.
The four-time Gold Glove Award winner thinks the rookie pitcher might not be used to the new baseballs and called out him for cheating. He thinks Sasaki was using sticky stuff. Sticky stuff is, of course, illegal.
Hand is obviously sticky! Seems like Roki is having a tough time blending his tang to get the right grip on these MLB ⚾️s
Somebody give him a hug!— @TheRealHos305 / X
The umpire literally checked Sasaki’s hands, glove and hat as he walked back to the dugout and cleared him of any suspicious substances. Hosmer still doesn’t buy it.
Yeah cause we all know those wipe downs are legit
— @TheRealHos305 / X
Cheating or not, Roki Sasaki said that he simply did not have his best stuff against Detroit.
Overall, I didn’t feel like I had a great feel for my mechanics. My slider felt pretty good, but my fastball, split, velo-wise, command-wise, wasn’t there. And I think there’s some things that came up during the outings. So every day has been a challenge in terms of being able to tackle what I should tackle.
— Roki Sasaki, through interpreter Will Ireton
It just wasn’t clicking.
I felt like I was able to get into the game pretty well without any nerves. Just didn’t feel like I had the stuff today.
— Roki Sasaki, through interpreter Will Ireton
Although nerves were not an issue, Sasaki was emotional. The Japanese broadcast cut to him in the dugout with what appeared to be tears in his eyes.
He was visibly distraught.
There is going to be a learning curve here. It was the second start of Sasaki’s first season in the United States. He is only 23. He will adjust.
With that being said, to see him (probably) crying in the dugout creates some concern about his ability to handle the pressure if these struggles are to continue. Especially with what his agent said about how the media treated him in Japan…
