Sasaki allows booming homer to White Sox No. 2 prospect in first sim game

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It didn't take long for White Sox catching prospect Kyle Teel to see something he liked from Dodgers righty Roki Sasaki.

With Sasaki facing White Sox hitters in what was described as a "hybrid B-game" on Tuesday morning, Teel was the first to step in against the highly regarded starter from Japan -- and he left the yard on the second pitch he saw.

The booming blast to right marked an inauspicious start to Sasaki's outing, although the rest of his three simulated innings went much more smoothly.

It was a matchup between two of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects, as Sasaki is ranked No. 1 overall and Teel is No. 32. Both came to their respective organizations this offseason. Sasaki signed with the Dodgers after being posted by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, and Teel was part of the White Sox return from the Red Sox in the blockbuster deal for Garrett Crochet.

After surrendering the homer to Teel, Sasaki induced several grounders that likely would have gone for outs had there been fielders. He punctuated the end of his first inning with his only swinging strikeout of the day.

Sasaki seemed to lose some steam in his third inning, though, bookending a well-struck drive from White Sox prospect Tim Elko with a pair of walks to end the outing.

"It's exciting for those guys to compete against Sasaki and the other pitchers today," White Sox director of player development Paul Janish said. "Pretty cool to be part of the first time [Sasaki] faced opposing hitters. We are hopeful both of those guys give themselves a chance to play in the Major Leagues this season."

It was the second time Sasaki faced live hitters this spring. He also threw live batting practice against his Dodgers teammates last week in front of a large crowd of players, front-office members and fans.

Sasaki, 23, has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game, but he's in consideration to start the second game of the Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs from March 18-19. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is likely to start the opener.

The Dodgers are waiting to see how Sasaki builds up in Spring Training before penciling him in to start on his home soil. Like with Yamamoto last spring, the team wants to help Sasaki ease in and adjust to life in the big leagues, with the added challenge of accomplishing that in a shortened spring.

"I think our first thing is the same thing we did with Yamamoto last year," Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said Sunday, "just trying to get him acclimated to, one, the U.S. style of baseball and practices and meetings and different things. ¡­ These first couple weeks is really both of us trying to get to know each other, and then try to progress from there. Get him dialed in with some things that he wants to work on."

Teel, 23, reached Triple-A last year, his first full professional season since being selected 14th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. He slashed .288/.386/.433 over 505 plate appearances split between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester and should have a chance to catch on with the big league club this season.

Elko, 26, is not ranked on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list, but he should also have a chance to reach the Majors this year. He has big power and homered in his first game of spring on Saturday.

The pool of White Sox hitters who faced Sasaki also included Jacob Gonzalez, Elko, Wilfred Veras, Tristan Gray and Andre Lipcius.