"Roki Sasaki. For now, anyway. At least that's the answer through the rubric of Win Probability Added (WPA, a metric that's been around for a while now and has a lot of utility in putting numbers to the narratives that emerge as the October bracket plays out. How the Dodgers fixed Roki Sasaki After a disastrous MLB debut, L.A.'s new ninth-inning man has unleashed jaw-dropping stuff in October.Jeff Passan ""
"The Dodgers, the sole wild-card team remaining, have played an extra round, and Sasaki currently leads all players on baseball's final four rosters in playoff WPA with .706. Here's Sasaki's game-by-game performance: Oct. 1: .015 (Finished the last inning of an 8-4 wild-card win over the Cincinnati Reds, a relatively low-leverage outing. But he looked good doing it, setting the Reds down in order with two whiffs. Hmmm. Maybe this means something.)"
The 2025 MLB playoffs began at the end of September and can extend into early November, but postseason action is framed as October baseball. Roki Sasaki, a Japanese-born Dodgers reliever with a nasty splitter, currently leads all players on the final four rosters in playoff Win Probability Added (WPA) with .706. Sasaki's game-by-game WPA: .015 on Oct. 1, .099 on Oct. 4 and .208 on Oct. 6. He recorded low-leverage dominance, a key Game 1 closeout and a pressure out against Trea Turner with runners on the corners to protect a 4-3 lead. Sasaki's late-inning excellence has positioned him as a potential new closer for Los Angeles.
Read at ESPN.com
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