“Unraveling the Mystery: Is Dodgers Rookie Roki Sasaki the Next Pitching Phenomenon?”
Velocity aside, the arrival of Sasaki’s standout splitter and its heavy dose of deployment is a compelling data point in a league-wide trend: Splitter usage has spiked significantly across baseball in recent years. From 2015 to 2022, splitters never accounted for more than 1.9% of the total pitches thrown in MLB during the regular season. But so far this year, 3.8% of pitches thrown have been splitters — a jump Sasaki has contributed to.
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Even with the increased usage of splitters league-wide, Sasaki’s distribution of pitches makes his arsenal relatively unique, especially for a starting pitcher. He’s one of just a handful of starters who rely on a splitter as their go-to secondary pitch, along with fellow Japanese aces Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga. But there’s really only one starting pitcher whose repertoire closely mirrors Sasaki’s specific balance of offerings, and that’s Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman:
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