NEW YORK: Roki Sasaki is a baby when it comes to Major League Baseball experience.

Which only makes his postseason success more impressive.

Still in the minors as of last month, Sasaki has suddenly become one of the most important pitchers in the World Series as the Toronto Blue Jays take on the defending champions Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday night.

Sasaki is yet to turn 24 or even appear in more than 17 big league games.

Back in spring training, much was expected of the 23-year-old Sasaki after his ballyhooed arrival from Japan.

A tantalizing starter in his home country, he began the season in Los Angeles’ rotation but struggled to adjust and throw strikes. Sasaki looked sad and teary-eyed in the dugout following a rough Dodger Stadium debut, and he went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts before landing on the injured list in May with a right shoulder impingement.

After all that hype, Sasaki almost became an afterthought. Five rehab starts with Triple-A Oklahoma City yielded unimpressive results — but then he came out of the bullpen twice in the minors and something clicked.

The right-hander finally rejoined the Dodgers on Sept. 24, made two terrific relief appearances and quickly found himself closing playoff games, stabilizing a suspect Los Angeles bullpen with his 100 mph fastball.

“As a starter, I understand that there’s always ups and downs. So, I kind of take that same approach with pitching as a reliever,” Sasaki said through a translator after saving Game 3 of the NLCS against Milwaukee.

Sasaki has a 1.13 ERA in seven October outings covering eight innings. He is the first pitcher to earn each of his first three career saves in the postseason since saves became an official statistic in 1969.

And, like other closers, he even has his own catchy and popular entrance song at Dodger Stadium: “Bailalo Rocky,” picked by teammate Miguel Rojas.

“His growth has been certainly not linear,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “For him to kind of self-reflect, get healthy and put himself back on the radar for our 2025 ballclub speaks of his fight. And I don’t think anyone could have foreseen him in this role in April or May. So, I give a lot of credit to Roki to kind of get to that point. And now he can look back at 2025 and look fondly at it.”

(With inputs from AP)