It feels like the Dodgers pulled a cruel trick on rest of MLB with Roki Sasaki

Roki Sasaki looked like a monster in his first three postseason innings, but his true test came in Game 4 of the NLDS, with the Los Angeles Dodgers look to send the Philadelphia Phillies packing.

The two teams were deadlocked at a run apiece through the seventh inning. The Phillies scored their first run at the top of the frame on a Nick Castellanos double, and the Dodgers matched it after Rob Thomson intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases, and Mookie Betts stayed patient and walked in a run.

Dave Roberts turned to Sasaki, now his closer, in attempt to keep the score even while his offense tried to find some life. He needed just eight pitches to get out of his first inning, 10 more to get out of his second, and then 18 to get out of his third and final. He didn't allow a single baserunner via hit or walk and struck out two.

Sasaki threw anywhere between 85.5 mph splitters and 100.2 mph fastballs. Highlights included a forkball with only 427 RPMs and a dizzying amount of drop and a 100+ mph heater that blew right by JT Realmuto.

Roki Sasaki proved his Dodgers postseason success isn't a fluke with epic three innings vs. Phillies in NLDS Game 4

All of this from a pitcher who the rest of baseball was laughing at earlier this season, and whose rookie campaign looked like a total wash less than a month ago. It's a credit to whoever kept the faith in Sasaki despite his early struggles and his less-than-exciting results out of Triple-A during his rehab assignment (but can anyone truthfully say they did?), and another testament to the Dodgers' pitching coaches. They might not know how to keep pitchers healthy, but they sure know how to build them back up.

Sasaki's three innings were an incredible preview for what he'll be capable of doing next season, when he's fully healthy and back in the rotation. At the beginning of the 2025 season, having a rotation made up of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, and Sasaki, with Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani on the way, looked absolutely unbeatable.

Of course, the Dodgers were susceptible as ever to injuries and May dropped off fast, but with May gone, Kershaw retiring, Yamamoto as good as ever, Snell and Glasnow (hopefully) past the worst of their injuries, and Sasaki looking this good? The Dodgers' rotation might be un-hittable next year.