"Sasaki's 2025 season didn't exactly go the way he or the Dodgers planned, despite the year ending with a World Series title. Sasaki spent most of the season on the IL and in the games he did pitch, he finished with a 4.46 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched. He walked almost as many batters as he struck out with a 28:22 K/BB ratio. While he didn't give up a lot of contact, with a .235 BABIP, he did give up hard contact, with opposition hitters getting a 45.8% hard hit rate."
"It stung for two reasons. The first being that the Blue Jays and their fans went through the same kind of disappointment just the year prior when it looked like Shohei Ohtani was going to join the team, but also chose the Dodgers instead. The second reason was that Toronto made a trade that allowed them to get some extra money specifically to sign international free agents."
The Toronto Blue Jays narrowly missed signing Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki before the 2025 season, marking the second consecutive year they lost out to the LA Dodgers for a major international free agent after Shohei Ohtani. The Blue Jays had specifically made a trade to acquire additional funds for international signings, making the loss particularly frustrating. However, Sasaki's 2025 performance with the Dodgers suggests the Blue Jays may have dodged a bullet. During the regular season, Sasaki struggled significantly, posting a 4.46 ERA across 36.1 innings in just 10 games while spending most of the season injured. His statistics revealed concerning trends, including nearly equal walks and strikeouts and elevated hard contact rates from opposing hitters. Though he contributed effectively to the Dodgers' playoff run as a reliever, his regular season struggles indicate the Blue Jays potentially avoided a problematic investment.
Read at Jays Journal
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