Everywhere Roki Sasaki looked Wednesday afternoon, curious eyes stared back at him.
Facing hitters for the first time in Dodgers camp this spring, and still just barely a month removed from his blockbuster signing with the team, the 23-year-old Japanese phenom was the center of attention at Camelback Ranch during the team’s latest round of live batting practice.
Dozens of teammates, coaches and club executives — including president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes — crowded behind a screen just beyond home plate. Hundreds of fans, photographers and media members huddled around the perimeter of the field as the 6-foot-4 right-hander climbed atop the mound.
“When everybody wants this guy,” teammate Mookie Betts said of Sasaki, whose signing this winter was one of the Dodgers’ biggest offseason coups, “everybody’s going to watch him.”
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Over the 27 pitches that followed, little could be truly gleaned about the current state of Sasaki’s talented but raw repertoire, or how smoothly his transition to Major League Baseball might go this season.
But for one afternoon, the quiet, reserved rookie didn’t seem fazed by the attention, saying he felt no nerves in the first of many milestone moments that await him in his debut MLB season.
“I did feel that today went better than I felt in my bullpens,” Sasaki said through an interpreter afterward. “Facing hitters for the first time using a major league ball, and pitching in a game environment for the first time in a while, I was just sort of feeling out how it would go, getting used to being back in the flow of a game.”
In his live batting practice session, Sasaki faced eight hitters over two innings of work.
Twice, he recorded strikeouts, ringing up infielder David Bote (a six-year MLB veteran in camp on a minor-league deal) on a called third strike before fanning outfielder Eddie Rosario (another non-roster invite with 10 years of MLB experience) with his signature splitter on back-to-back pitches.
“The splitter moves a lot,” Rosario said. “I saw one move to the outside side, and one move to the inside side. It’s good.”
Twice, Sasaki gave up hits, with Bote and utilityman Tommy Edman roping line drives off a couple of…