Four months after I gave a scouting report culled with the help of executives and scouts on what to expect from Roki Sasaki—one of them described his ceiling as “best pitcher in the world”—how did the Los Angeles Dodgers righthander measure up to the advance billing in his first outing?

All eyes were on the radar gun once Roki Sasaki fired his first Cactus League pitch on Tuesday night. The reading: 99.2 mph. That first offering set the tone for a spring debut that did not disappoint.

Sasaki reaches 99 mph with his fastball, a significant improvement over his bullpen sessions and live batting practice. “This is the best we’ve seen him,” Dave Roberts says.