The Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to their 13th straight NLDS appearance on Wednesday night with an 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
It was also the Postseason debut of the highly coveted prospect in 23-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki, who, before being on the list of pitchers making the 26-man roster for the Wild Card round for Los Angeles, had lingering doubts that he would even return to pitch in 2025 after being sidelined by a shoulder injury that had kept him off the rubber since May.
Sasaki's first season in the States thus far has been one of trial and error. With constant maintenance and rehab after rehab, trying to bring Sasaki up to speed on the familiarity of how baseball is played in the MLB, and mechanical adjustments, the 23-year-old displayed his best outing on the mound in his postseason debut.
With Los Angeles holding an 8-4 lead heading into the ninth, manager Dave Roberts decided to let the right-hander make his postseason debut and allowed him to be the one to send Los Angeles to the NLDS.
To break it down, Sasaki's mechanics and pitching repertoire were the best that we have ever seen thus far. He threw his fastball a total of seven times, and not one of those heaters dipped below 99.8 mph. His splitter was as sharp as ever, displaying high spin rates and showing overall comfort with the pitch.
Sasaki made quick work in the ninth, delivering a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two Reds and sending the Dodgers to the NLDS with a date to play the Phillies this Saturday.
Despite the short sample size in Sasaki's first Postseason outing, the baseball world got its first glimpse of what the Monster of the Reiwa Era could showcase at full strength. The Dodgers now set their sights on one of he most highly anticipated series in this entire Postseason, as they travel to Philadelphia to play the Phillies.
The Phillies have the Dodgers' number throughout these last two years, but with Los Angeles potentially finding their lockdown reliever in the pen with Sasaki, the Dodgers could make this an even playing ground for an exciting NLDS series.