Jun 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) walks on the field prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Dodgers Manager Provides Massive Update Regarding Roki Sasaki

Originally posted on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI
By Gabe Smallson | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered last season's World Series with just three starting pitchers from the rotation that started the year.

In order to address this issue, despite a dominant clinching of the eighth title in franchise history, a major goal of the offseason was bringing in pitching talent to provide more depth to the team. Unfortunately, some of the new reinforcements have already hit the injured list or have missed extended time.

One of these new arms was a highly sought-after international prospect in Roki Sasaki. After four illustrious seasons in Japan, his first eight starts in a Dodgers uniform were abysmal at best, posting a 4.72 ERA across 34.1 innings of work before landing on the injured list in early May with a shoulder impingement.

After missing extended time, manager Dave Roberts recently revealed that Sasaki is back to throwing bullpen sessions again, and doing so free of pain. The skipper spoke on a late August timetable for the 23-year-old phenom to return to the mound.

Dave Roberts said Roki Sasaki has started throwing bullpen sessions and is feeling pain-free. Brought up a late August timetable for him.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) July 13, 2025

An area that Sasaki must improve upon is his command. This was evident in his 15.6 percent strikeout rate (ranking in just the fifth percentile) and 14.3 percent walk rate, a mark that is the second-worst in baseball with pitchers having at least 150 batters faced.

Sasaki's velocity on his most-used pitch, the four-seam fastball, was averaging 96 mph, which is good for the 77th percentile among active pitchers. His batting average against this offering was .253, with batters swinging and missing at it just 10.1 percent of the time.

His splitter, however, seemed to still be as advertised from his days in Japan.

Batters were hitting .158 against it, the lowest of Sasaki's three pitches, and whiffing 35 percent of the time. Sasaki also put away batters with this offering 16.5 percent of the time, also the highest rate in his arsenal.

There are definitely areas that the young phenom can improve upon as he gets back to full health, but Sasaki will hopefully get much closer to the production that he displayed in NPB as he eyes a return to the bump.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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