Sasaki bringing stability to bullpen

SASAKI HAS GIVEN Dodgers manager Dave Roberts a key weapon in a bullpen that struggled for most of the season.

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SASAKI HAS GIVEN Dodgers manager Dave Roberts a key weapon in a bullpen that struggled for most of the season.

man said. “But we wanted his full buy-in.”

‘Long-term, they promised him, he would still be a starter. In their view, he was assured, the team still saw him as a potential future ace.

But for now, they asked if he’d be open to making a temporary move to the bullpen; to taking ona relief role that they knew to him ‘was completely foreign.

“We don’t want an answer right now,” Friedman told Sasaki. “We want you to take time and think through it.”

“We would not want to push this,” he added, “unless you're totally on board.”

All year, the Dodgers had tried to build trust with their newest Japanese star. Now, they waited for an answer, as Sasaki went home and mulled things over alongside his agent.

As he later told the Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun, he was initially “very hesitant” to such a switch. There was a time in middle school he'd been a closer, but during his ascent from high school to the pros, starting was all he’d ever known.

Several things, however, tipped the scales in his mind. He craved a chance to pitch in a postseason environment. He sensed an opportunity to boost a team in desperate need of relief depth. And, having finally found a comfort level with his club after a trying rookie season, he'd regained the confidence he was missing at the start ofthe campaign.

Thus, before the end of that day on Sept. Il, Sasaki gave the Dodgers his answer. He wasin.

“Because they will let me try to start again next season,” he said, “it was a relatively easy decision to make.”

Thirty-one days — and 5% scoreless, invaluable innings of postseason relief work from Sasaki — later, it was a moment that might have helped save the Dodgers season, and launch the rest of his MLB career.

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