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Los Angeles Dodgers rookie starter-turned-relief-pitcher Roki Sasaki revealed the backstory of how his walk-out song came to be.
The song “Bailalo Rocky” echos through Dodger Stadium as Sasaki trots out of the pen, but the young right-hander revealed that he wasn’t the one who chose the song, despite it exclaiming the name “Rocky” which sounds very similar to Roki.
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“That was actually MiggyRo (Miguel Rojas)’s idea,” Sasaki said last week. “I’m really happy the fans are enjoying it.”
After Sasaki’s initial struggles in MLB, posting a 4.72 ERA across his first eight starts, it has been night and day for him in his transition to the bullpen.
After a shoulder impingement sidelined him for over four months, his velocity was still down during his rehab assignment in Triple-A. In a somewhat miraculous development, Sasaki increased his velocity over 4 mph in between starts — and given the starting rotation’s success and the bullpen needing assistance, Sasaki’s last two rehab outings were in relief.
A pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the regular season was all manager Dave Roberts needed to see that he was capable of working in the postseason.
Calling Sasaki capable this October has been a severe understatement.
The right-hander has a 1.13 ERA across eight strong innings. He also earned his first three career saves (the first two being on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies), and was on the mound to close out the Wild Card round and the NLCS at home.
Pitching at home is something that wasn’t kind to Sasaki this season, allowing six earned runs in his three starts this season. Perhaps the added bonus of a song that features a name sounding like his and the infectous energy of a World Series environment will keep up his elevated success in relief.
“I hadn’t been able to pitch well at Dodger Stadium before, so honestly, I didn’t have the best memories of it,” Sasaki said. “But now that I’m getting results as a reliever, the view from the mound looks completely different.”
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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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