"Vicious fork ball"

Los Angeles Dodgers' Loki Sasaki started against the Texas Rangers in the 2025 Major League Baseball at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on the 20th (Korea time) and recorded 78 pitches, two hits (one homer), three walks, four strikeouts and two runs (two earned) in six innings.

Having the feat of being the youngest player to play a perfect game in Japanese pro baseball, he threw a super fastball of up to 165 kilometers at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, contributing to the Japanese national team's "all-time victory," Sasaki challenged the big league ahead of this season. As players under the age of 25 can use a limited amount of money that Major League teams can use, numerous teams have sent love calls to recruit Sasaki. As a result, Sasaki has decided to wear a Dodgers uniform.
Maybe it was because he had high expectations. I was a little disappointed in Sasaki after I opened the lid. At the opening series against the Chicago Cubs on June 19 at Tokyo Dome in Japan, Sasaki threw a whopping 100.5 miles (161.7 kilometers) of balls from the first inning, but gave up five walks during three innings, allowing one run (one earned run). And on the 30th, he repeatedly threw unstable pitches with as many as four walks against the Detroit Tigers, and suffered the humiliation of being replaced in one ⅔ inning.

In particular, in the game against Detroit, Sasaki seemed to be dissatisfied with manager Dave Roberts' order to replace him, which led to a lot of criticism. Still, after the schedule began in April, the recent pitching seems to have improved for sure. Sasaki, who scored one run (one earned run) in four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on the 6th, showed remarkable improvement with one run in five innings against the Cubs, who met again on the 13th. However, it was a fly in the ointment that led to the loss of the first major league home run.

Then, Sasaki marked the first quality start (three earned runs or fewer in six innings) in the big league on Tuesday. Sasaki started the game by tying the Texas Rangers' top lineup, which includes Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Josh Smith, with three outs in the first inning, and neatly cooked Adolis Garcia, Jak Pederson, and Josh Young in the second inning as well. Despite the lack of speed, he produced the best results.

The first run was in the third inning. The reason why he allowed a two-run homer to left was that he gave up a walk to leadoff batter Dustin Harris and then hit a 94.5-mile (about 152.1 kilometers) four-core batter Kyle Higashioka. Still, Sasaki managed to pull off the Texas lineup without much risk and produced an inning with three outs in the bottom of the fourth inning with the support of the lineup in the top of the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, he secured the winning requirement by finishing the inning with one strikeout and two ground balls. 온라인바카라

Sasaki also appeared in the sixth inning as he could afford to throw more pitches. Sasaki caught the leadoff hitter Seager with a fly ball and gave up a walk to Smith, but managed to catch Garcia and complete a two-run pitch in six innings. However, Sasaki failed to reach victory on the day. Kirby Yates, who took the mound to wrap up the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, failed to keep a one-run lead.

Nonetheless, Sasaki's pitching on the day was highly praised. With his maximum speed at 94.1 miles (151.4 kilometers) in the first inning, maximum speed at 96.9 miles (156 kilometers) in the game, and average speed at 94.7 miles (152.4 kilometers), he ended up allowing two runs in six innings. Sasaki's speed on the day was 2.2 miles (about 3.54 kilometers) lower than usual.

The most impressive scene of Sasaki's pitching on the day was his showdown with Jock Pederson in the second inning with one out and no runners. Sasaki threw a forkball of 86.5 miles (about 139.2 kilometers) on the fourth pitch in the advantageous count of 1B-2S, and according to the "baseball servant," the forkball fell a whopping 45 inches (114.3 centimeters). The ball fell as low as 14 centimeters by 1 meter was impossible to hit even though he knew it.

The ball was highly praised. Rob Friedman, a pitching analyst well-known as the "Pitching Ninja," praised Sasaki's pitching that struck out Pederson as a "bad fork ball." The Japanese "Full Count" said that the power of the fastball was far from Sasaki's, but it left a strong impact as a decision ball, and the U.S. and Japanese fans were also thrilled.

Manager Dave Roberts also said, "I think it was great to throw six innings against the Texas Rangers even though my speed was not that fast. He played every ball well. It is encouraging that a 95-96-mile ball can throw a batter out of the Major League."