Dodgers Manager: Roki Sasaki Wanted to Stay In Before Being Pulled After 3 Innings

If Rōki Sasaki had gotten his way, he would have pitched more than three innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the game that Sasaki was hoping to remain in the game longer than he did:

"I think there were nerves, and understandably so. The velocity was good, but I thought the emotions, the adrenaline, was hard to rein in. ... The highs are going to be high, and when he's not commanding it, it gets a little bit tricky. I do want to say he wanted to stay in the game. That's a decision I made in the best interest of him, but he wanted to keep going."

It's hard to argue with the decision Roberts made to pull Sasaki. The right-hander, who was making his first career MLB start, struggled with his command by issuing five walks.

Three of those walks came in the third inning, with the final resulting in a run for the Cubs. Sasaki did escape further damage by showing off his arsenal of pitches to strike out Michael Busch and Matt Shaw.

Despite the initial struggles in that inning, the strikeouts were a good way to give Sasaki a positive note to close his first start. His final line was one earned run allowed on one hit, five walks and three strikeouts in three innings.

The 56 pitches Sasaki threw were 10 more than in either of his two spring outings. His longest appearance in spring training was four innings against the Cleveland Guardians on March 11, so it's unlikely he would've gone more than four innings in this game regardless of the results.

Los Angeles is still in the process of building up Sasaki's arm for a full season. He also dealt with arm injuries last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines in NPB.

Even though this particular game probably had special meaning for Sasaki as his first MLB start and taking place at the Tokyo Dome, the Dodgers are taking a long-term view with the 23-year-old phenom.

The Dodgers and Cubs are returning to the United States to wrap up their final spring games before resuming the regular season starting on March 27. Los Angeles host the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium for a three-game series.