Should the Dodgers Be Worried About Roki Sasaki?

A Quick Rewind

Sasaki was one of the closely followed signings last winter. 2025 was a bumpy ride for the rookie. Although he showed promise, Sasaki struggled with his control and keeping his pitch count down. His Earned Run Average was 4.72. Then he landed on the Injured List with a shoulder impingement that kept him sidelined until late September. In fact, there was some serious doubt whether he would pitch again in 2025.  However, he did and served as the closer out of necessity for the Dodgers. It is safe to say that Los Angeles doesn’t win their second straight World Series without him.

A New Start

Now, Sasaki is looking to solidify his place in the rotation, all the while working on a third pitch to add to his repertoire. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts says that the third pitch is essential to Sasaki’s long-term effectiveness and success. As such, he is playing with two new pitches, a two-seamer and a cutter. It seems that he still has some work to do. The good news is he appears healthy. His fastball hit 98 miles per hour.

In his first start, the young right-hander went one and a third innings. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks on 36 pitches. Only half of these were in the strike zone. It looked eerily similar to last year.

Deja Vu All Over Again?

Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged the rough outing, saying that Sasaki was “overthrowing” the fastball and using it too much. Roberts admitted that there is more pressure on the 24-year old to show improvement over last year. To be fair, it was the right-hander’s first outing of the spring. More than likely, Sasaki was dealing with nerves or adrenaline.

Should the Dodgers Be Worried?

If a pitcher is going to struggle, Spring Training is the time to do it. There has to be time to get rid of the rust. Secondly, if Sasaki is working on developing new pitches, part of fine-tuning the arsenal is honing in on the location of the strike zone. Sasaki is still young and trying to find himself at the major league level.

It is important to keep in mind that Blake Snell, as well as other arms, are not going to be ready for Opening Day. This means that as long as Sasaki stays healthy, he will probably be in the starting rotation on Opening Day. The regular season is long, and the Dodgers are aiming for October. Los Angeles will probably be as patient as possible with Sasaki, even if there are growing pains. The panic button doesn’t need to be pushed. At least not yet.