Roki Sasaki's Scattershot MLB Debut

Plus: Chase Dollander's rotation bid, Coby Mayo's Triple-A frustration & more.

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Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers: Sasaki's much-anticipated big league debut Wednesday morning against the Cubs lasted three innings at the Tokyo Dome. MLB's No. 1 prospect sizzled at times, including a clean first inning where his fastball averaged 99.6 mph, but also battled his control for large stretches of the outing, walking five batters, including walking in a run during a turbulent third inning. Sasaki landed only 25 of his 56 pitches for strikes, although he limited the damage to just one earned run and also managed three strikeouts. The 23-year-old particularly struggled to corral his devilish splitter. The Dodgers opted not to send Sasaki back out for the fourth inning as they build him up with caution early in 2025.

Matt Shaw, 3B, Cubs: Shaw, who earned the Opening Day start yesterday at third base, was back in Chicago’s lineup on Wednesday and notched his first career hit after Dodgers LHP Jack Dreyer failed to field a comebacker. He also made a pair of impressive plays defensively.

Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies: Dollander has had a few rude awakenings against major league hitters this spring. On Tuesday, Dollander turned a corner as he struck out seven over 3.2 innings. Dollander allowed two hits and two walks but spread each baserunner across all of his four innings. He sat 96-97 mph on his fastball mixing in a mid-80s slider and his downer curveball in the upper 70s. Dollander generated 14 swinging strikes and showed command of his mix throughout the start. MLB's No. 8 prospect has now thrown 7.2 consecutive scoreless innings as he tries to make the Rockies rotation out of spring training.

Juan Brito, 2B, Guardians: Brito has caught fire late in spring training. He has homered in three of his last five games and on Tuesday had his second consecutive multi-hit game, which included a home run, mirroring his performance from Sunday. The home run came on a first pitch slider that Tyler Mahle hung over the middle of the plate. The ball left the bat at 107.4 mph and traveled 357 feet to right field. Brito is likely to begin the season at Triple-A but has a chance to see extended run with the Guardians in 2025.

Thomas Harrington, RHP, Pirates: Outside of a first-inning home run, Harrington was unhittable for the next three innings on Tuesday. Harrington generated just four whiffs but showed excellent command of his deep arsenal. Harrington mixed both four-seam and two-seam fastballs at 92-94 mph while blending in a changeup, slider, cutter and curveball. Harrington will likely begin the season in Triple-A where he’ll be another young talented pitcher in the Pirates stable.

Coby Mayo, 3B, Orioles: Mayo will have to wait a bit longer to break through Baltimore's well-documented glut of hitters. The club optioned MLB's No. 29 prospect to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday after he hit .190/.239/.262 through 46 plate appearances this spring. Even with stronger results, Mayo likely faced an uphill path to regular playing time competing with the likes of Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O'Hearn, Ramon Urias and Heston Kjerstad for some kind of corner or designated hitter role.

"It's definitely difficult," Mayo told reporters. "It obviously sucks because you feel like you've proven everything you've needed to. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it's quite enough. Obviously you go back there and if you have success, it's "Oh, he's supposed to have success because he's already proven it,' and if he doesn't have success, it's 'Oh, well, obviously he's fallen off.' It's kind of a lose-lose going to Norfolk."

This will be Mayo's third stint in Norfolk and he owns a .279/.376/.543 line with 34 homers in 151 games at the level. He struggled to translate his plus-plus power into results a big league cameo last year, hitting .098 with 22 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances, and also faces some questions about whether he can stick at third base in the long-term. Now, he'll head back to Triple-A in the hopes of answering them -- and applying some pressure on the Orioles to find a way to carve out a permanent role for him either in Baltimore or another organization.

Editor’s Picks

Back by popular demand, our prospect breakout teams for 2025 are here. Matt Eddy, Geoff Pontes and Dylan White got together to draft rosters of potential breakouts. Baseball America subscribers can see each team below.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Eric Reyzelman, RHP, Yankees: Reyzelman is still likely a dark horse to make the Yankees' Opening Day roster, but he showed why he could be a bullpen option for the club in 2025. Reyzelman struck out the side in order on Tuesday as he sat 96-97 mph on his fastball with a banger curveball in the low-80s that averaged 20 inches of horizontal break. The Yankees righthander has legitimate closer stuff and will be a name to watch in 2025 and beyond.

Quick Hits

News and notes from around spring training…

  • Astros prospect Zach Dezenzo has a jaw injury after getting struck in the face by a ball

  • The Orioles also optioned C Samuel Basallo to Triple-A on Tuesday

  • One Red Sox beat writer predicts Kristian Campbell has the inside track on Boston’s starting 2B job

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