"I wasn't overly concerned. But it was good to see him bounce back. Sasaki said through an interpreter after he was lifted from the game that something felt off about his upper-body mechanics. He made a simple adjustment and found success in it."
"It was actually my upper body. My lower half actually felt pretty good. My upper body felt a little off, so I was trying to make an adjustment. Working in a healthy mix of fastballs, cutters and splitters, Sasaki struck out two and was able to limit hard contact."
"Maybe he's trying to be a little too fine and/or just a little bit out of sync with the delivery. That's why you have spring training, you work though it, you've got to be able to make in-game adjustments. As he gets more experienced, you would expect that to happen in the inning rather than sit for 20 minutes."
Roki Sasaki had a difficult start against the Cleveland Guardians, walking three batters and allowing two hits, including a grand slam by Kyle Manzardo, before being removed after 23 pitches with poor command. However, after being re-inserted in the second inning, Sasaki made an upper-body mechanical adjustment and pitched effectively, retiring all six batters he faced across two innings while throwing 22 pitches with 13 strikes. He mixed fastballs, cutters, and splitters while striking out two batters and limiting hard contact. Manager Dave Roberts noted the importance of spring training for working through mechanical issues and making in-game adjustments.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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