Dodgers notes: Roki Sasaki, Dave Roberts, Christian Zazueta

Roki Sasaki has been a mess in his first two starts this spring, still working through some new pitches and fighting his command, having through 38 strikes and 43 balls thus far in Cactus League play, allowing seven runs and recording 10 outs.

Sasaki has expressed confidence in his mechanics and the coming adjustments, and the Dodgers have every intention of having him in the opening day rotation.

Michael Baumann at FanGraphs looked at Sasaki’s mechanics and his new pitches (a cutter, plus a smattering of a sinker), and has been worried at the results thus far:

And now, Sasaki’s release point is drifting. Instead of getting the ball out at full extension, his arm is drifting out and up. That’s going to affect movement and command, but it’s also going to hurt the perceived velocity on his fastball: an even 100 mph during last year’s postseason, down to 98.5 mph now.

Let’s see how these next three spring starts go.

Tyler Kepner at The Athletic walked through the slew of decisions from Game 7 of the World Series with manager Dave Roberts, plus a handful of players involved as well. It’s a fantastic look back, paired with Kepner weaving similar decisions from other World Series for comparison.

From Kepner:

“I talk to our guys every day about playing for something bigger, and I try to remind myself all the time that I’m a baseball fan first,” Roberts said. “And yes, I’m going to manage to win and make our players better. But I don’t ever want to lose sight of how great this game is.”

Minor league right-hander Christian Zazueta talked with Jesús Cano at Baseball America about potentially pitching for Mexico in the next World Baseball Classic, and also about potentially playing with the Dodgers in Los Angeles:

“It’s like playing at home,” Zazueta said. “Even in the minors, I’ve seen so much support from a lot of the Mexican fans. It makes being part of this organization even more special.”

Zazueta is on the preliminary list of Dodgers prospects available for the spring breakout game, which will be Saturday, March 21 against the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

MLB Pipeline unveiled its updated Dodgers top-30 prospect list, which included Zazeuta at 10th in the system, after being outside the top 30 before last season. Said Jim Callis of MLB.com: “Roughed up in his first crack at Single-A in 2024, he dominated in his return at age 20 and already is one of the system’s more polished pitchers.”