Roki Sasaki’s Secret Weapon: How the Dodgers’ Unexpected Closer is Shutting Down the Postseason with Unstoppable Precision

Roki Sasaki’s Secret Weapon: How the Dodgers’ Unexpected Closer is Shutting Down the Postseason with Unstoppable Precision

In the World Series, he closed out three of St. Louis’ four wins, including the clinching Game 5, when Brandon Inge waved and missed at a curveball for strike three.

Adam Wainwright playoff ERA

Roki Sasaki’s Journey Back

For Sasaki, of course, the actual story isn’t just the end points. His first four pitches as a Dodger — against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo to start the season — all topped 100 mph, but his elite velocity quickly disappeared and he struggled to get major-league batters to swing and miss, while also struggling with his control. Sasaki, who had 264 strikeouts and 49 walks in 202 innings in his final two seasons in Japan, had just 24 strikeouts and 22 walks in 34.1 innings through his May 9 start against Arizona, when he struck out zero of the 20 batters he faced.

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