Roki Sasaki & Dave Roberts (Image Credits: Imagn)

Dave Roberts Shares Important Roki Sasaki Update

Originally posted on Total Pro Sports
By Paranjoy Goswami | Last updated Apr 11, 2026 10:34 AM ET

The 2026 season could well become a defining one in the MLB career of Roki Sasaki. The Japanese pitcher did not live up to the promise as a starter in his first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, despite doing quite well in a bullpen role. Moreover, Sasaki is off to a terrible start to the new campaign after enduring an extremely rough spring training.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that Roki Sasaki will continue to hold his role in the starting rotation. The Dodgers will not move the 24-year-old right-hander to the bullpen even when Blake Snell becomes available. Therefore, Saski has time to show improvement on the mound with Snell still some distance away from his return.

“When Blake comes back, Roki will not be in the bullpen,” Roberts said, as per Dodger Blue.

Roki Sasaki will not be in the bullpen when Blake Snell returns, Roberts said.
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) April 10, 2026

Snell did not pitch for the Dodgers in spring training due to left shoulder fatigue. The Dodgers moved him to the IL before the start of the season. He will probably return to the team in May.

MLB Insider Says Roki Sasaki No Longer Commands His Best Pitch

Roki Sasaki had another dreadful outing in his previous start. He gave up six earned runs over 5.0 innings against the Washington Nationals last Sunday. Dylan Hernandez of the New York Post feels the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher has lost command of his signature pitch in the midst of his struggles in the early stages of the 2026 campaign.

Roki Sasaki (Image Credits: Imagn)

“There was always an element of unpredictability with Sasaki’s forkball, which tumbles like a knuckler because of its extremely low spin rate. But Sasaki has started missing badly with the pitch with greater frequency,” Hernandez wrote earlier this week.

“He threw one against the Nationals that was so off the mark that it ended up in the middle of the plate and was clobbered for a three-run homer by James Wood in a four-run fourth inning for the Nationals.”

At the moment, Sasaki has a 7.00 ERA from 9.0 innings pitched over his first two outings of the season for the Dodgers. He will make his next start on the mound against the Texas Rangers this Saturday.

This article first appeared on Total Pro Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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