The time has finally come. Japanese phenom pitcher Roki Sasaki has finally made his decision. After meeting with teams around the league, he has decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He decided to join the defending champions and fellow countrymen in Ohtani and Yamamoto instead of the Padres and the Blue Jays. The money is cheap given his age, but now is the time for him to make his stamp on the league.

Roki Sasaki Finally Makes a Decision

It was a long wait, at least it felt that way. But Sasaki now gets to make a name for himself with the Dodgers. He has thrived in Japan and now takes his talents to the states.

Sasaki was wildly successful in Japan, eclipsing a 2.02 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. He is a strikeout machine, having averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings over four seasons. Sasaki has only allowed 93 earned runs over four seasons and has also only walked 91 batters across four seasons. He has impeccable command and has a nose for the strike zone.

This is a pitcher who packs a mean velocity with his fastball, seeing it eclipse 102 MPH. He also mixes in a splitter, which has helped create a deadly combination. Sasaki has all the tools and has pitched in big stages before. Now he enters a bigger stage and gives baseball fans yet another young pitcher to make his debut.

What This Means for the Dodgers

There will be an adjustment period, as pitching every fifth day is different than pitching in Japan. But Sasaki is a tremendous move and bringing him in was a no brainer decision. This is a huge deal for the club. Getting a player of Sasaki’s caliber is hard to come by, because it does not happen often. His age, plus the money is a rare sight to see, but they got the job done and he chose them.

Sasaki gives the rotation a massive boost. After a year where the Dodgers saw starting pitchers drop like flies, they’ve gone out to add in plenty. The Dodgers have one of the most stacked rotations in baseball and that was even before inking Sasaki. Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Sasaki form an elite rotation and each pitcher is an ace on most teams.