Dodgers Opinion: Enough Is Enough: Roki Sasaki Should Be the Closer

LOS ANGELES, CA—The Los Angeles Dodgers are riding high after pulling off a dramatic Game Two win in the National League Division Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. Still, it could’ve been a vastly different flight home had the bullpen blown it yet again. 

The Dodgers’ offense, which struggled against the Phillies’ young left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo for most of the night, finally cracked him, and their pitching staff put up four runs in the seventh inning.

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen would enter with a four-run lead, and the first man up was right-hander Emmet Sheehan.

Sheehan would dance around trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning after a triple off the left-handed bat of Max Kepler, who would end up scoring after an RBI single by Trea Turner. Still, overall, Sheehan did his job, tossing two crucial innings.

Then things got interesting. Rather than going to 23-year-old rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki, who shut the door in Game One to secure the comeback victory, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went with Blake Treinen in the ninth inning to secure the save.

The decision on paper made sense. The Phillies had a trio of right-handed hitters up in Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos, but as we all expected, Treinen, who had posted a 9.64 ERA over the final month of the season, was unable to get a single out. The Phillies, with the tying run at second, were inching close to stealing this game and taking all the momentum back to Chavez Ravine.

Roberts would then go to another dependable arm in left-hander Alex Vesia, who would get bailed out the next at-bat after a fantastically executed wheel play by Max Muncy and Mookie Betts to get the out at third on the bunt by Bryson Stott.

Next was a Harrison Bader single and a groundout by lefty Max Kepler, which advanced Stott to third on the forceout.

After seeing all that unfold, Roberts finally went to his bullpen yet again and brought in Roki Sasaki to get the final out of the ballgame. And so he did, getting Trea Turner to ground out to second baseman Tommy Edman, ending the Phillies ’ threat and putting Los Angeles up two games to none in the best-of-five series.

However, it never had to be that stressful.

Over the last several days, Roberts has been hesitant to name Roki the closer, even stating as much during a pregame interview this week.

“I just don’t want to be pigeonholed into the ninth because with the way this lineup is constructed,” Roberts began. “There could be different ways where the eighth could present itself where he could be the best option.”

“But I do consider him one of our top highest-leverage relievers, for sure.”

The facts are, Roki Sasaki is the best arm in the Dodgers’ bullpen right now. So far in three appearances this postseason, Sasaki has not allowed a run in 2.1 innings pitched and got back-to-back saves in front of a hostile Phillies crowd.

He’s past the test of pitching multiple games in a week after pitching two games in three days, and when given the opportunity, has excelled in that role.

Roberts has pushed all the right buttons so far this postseason and has outmaneuvered Phillies manager Rob Thomson in almost every aspect of the game, but yesterday, the decision to go with Treinen nearly cost the Dodgers the game and could have been a series-altering move.

Even after the game, Roberts explained his reluctance to use Sasaki for the second time in three days and felt confident in who he had in Treinen and the rest of the bullpen.

But, regardless, he still had to use Sasaki to finish the game, so why not make it less complicated and give him a clean inning?

The Dodgers will head home for Game Three, which is set to start at 6:08 p.m. PT. With a win, the Dodgers will advance to the National League Championship Series for the second consecutive season.

But before that, hopefully, Roberts and the rest of the organization brass have learned that Sasaki is the man who should be shutting the door in the ninth inning, not Blake Treinen or Tanner Scott.

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