Roki Sasaki made his highly anticipated debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, and many people were surprised by how hard the right-hander throws.
Sasaki pitched three innings against the Chicago Cubs for the second game of the Tokyo Series in his native country of Japan. The 23-year-old allowed just one hit and one earned run with three strikeouts. He was a bit erratic at times with five walks, but that was not the big storyline.
Sasaki turned heads with his velocity. His first three pitches of the game hit 100 mph on the radar gun.
100
— MLB (@MLB) March 19, 2025
100
100
Roki Sasaki's first three MLB pitches. pic.twitter.com/qLxqVkQrpU
We already knew Sasaki had nasty stuff from when he made spring training debut earlier this month. He made a number of hitters look silly in that game.
The consistent 100-mph fastballs really caught the attention of fans on Wednesday:
Sasaki hitting 100 already multiple times is ridiculous
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) March 19, 2025
Didn’t know Roki Sasaki sat 100 on his fastball damn
— BriskerSZN (@BriskerSzn) March 19, 2025
It took Roki Sasaki 5 MLB pitches to throw something slower than 100 mph (it was at 99 MPH)
— Stark Raving Sports (@StarkRaveSports) March 19, 2025
I personally wasn’t prepared for 100 at the knees to open the game from Roki Sasaki damn
— The Schmack Guy (@Ant_Pasquale3) March 19, 2025
Sasaki through three batters throwing 100+ mph then pulling the string with a 82mph splitter. I’ve seen enough. He’s winning the Cy Young.
— auzzy (@WizardOfAuzzy) March 19, 2025
Sasaki needs to work on his control, but he has the type of stuff that can give hitters nightmares. Those who followed him in Japan already knew that.
Sasaki pitched four seasons in Japan and was dominant. He went 30-15 with a 2.02 ERA during his pro career. He struck out 524 batters in 414.2 career innings. Sasaki pitched a perfect game in 2022 and holds the Japanese record with 19 strikeouts in a game. He also holds a world record for striking out 13 consecutive batters.
The Dodgers had a 5-1 lead when Luis Garcia took over for Sasaki to begin the fourth inning on Wednesday.
