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Why Roki Sasaki must be Dodgers closer for rest of playoffs

Originally posted on MLB on ClutchPoints
By Matty Breisch, ClutchPoints | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 11:32 PM ET

If there’s one overarching issue the Los Angeles Dodgers have been dealing with all season, it’s been their bullpen… or lack thereof.

One season removed from having a legendary playoff relief run, with Dave Roberts winning the World Series effectively relying on a bullpen games at least once a week, seemingly every player the Dodgers brought back from 2024 regressed, while the free agents they added to the pen, like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Brock Stewart failed to hit their expected levels of performance, too.

Facing off against the Cincinnati Reds over a two-game series, the Dodgers’ bullpen recorded fewer Ks over two games than Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto individually recorded in their starts, surrendering five hits, seven walks, and five total runs on the way to the eventual Wild Card Series win. Now granted, the Dodgers’ offense helped the defense out a ton, with LA scoring a week’s worth of runs – 18 – over the two games to make things easier, but had Roberts’ squad put up their usual runs per game average, 5.09, they might still be playing in Game 3, if not having lost the series outright.

Fortunately, there was one bullpen bright spot out of the series that should leave Dodgers fans feeling all warm and fuzzy: the absolutely filthy Game 2 ninth inning pitched by Roki Sasaki.

Making his MLB postseason debut in the ninth inning against the Reds – a decision made to avoid the rookie throwing his debut inning in a high-leverage inning in South Philadelphia – Sasaki looked like an absolute killer, throwing nine strikes on just 11 pitches for two Ks and a flyout to Mookie Betts to secure the final out of the game.

Discussing Sasaki’s postseason debut and his personal level of trust in the rookie heading into the NLDS after the Wild Card Series’ conclusion, Dave Roberts told reporters he believes in his 23-year-old pitcher and looks forward to seeing him play in the next round.

“I trust him, and he’s going to be pitching in leverage. So the more you pitch guys and play guys, you learn more. So, like I said about Yamamoto, I don’t think the moment’s going to be too big for Roki,” Roberts said via Dodgers Nation.

“Yeah. I think — you like them all, you trust them all, to various degrees. And I think in the postseason, you have to go with ultimately who you feel best in that one spot. And so it’s ever-evolving, and I’m not going to be a ‘It can’t be blind to performance and heartbeat and how guys respond to certain situations.’ It’s sort of a daily kind of conversation with the pitching coaches, the front office, and just kind of — and most importantly, what I see.”

Did Sasaki play like a pitcher with a grand slam’s worth of insurance on the scoreboard? Yes. But could his stone-cold play in Game 2 translate to a full-time role as the Dodgers’ playoff closer? Maybe yes, maybe no, but frankly, it should, as no one coming out of the bullpen has looked as good as Sasaki, and that’s unlikely to change.

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The Dodgers need to give Roki Sasaki the playoff closer role

As things presently stand, the Dodgers will have Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto start their first three games of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, with regular season starters Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan, and Clayton Kershaw all transitioning to bullpen options as multi-inning arms.

Because Ohtani is, well, Ohtani, a two-way multi-time MVP who will almost certainly earn another nod in the not-too-distant future, it’s unlikely he’ll be pitching into the seventh, eighth, or even ninth inning against Bryce Harper and company even if his stuff is on fire. As a result, Roberts will likely pair him up with a pitcher like Glasnow – who didn’t pitch against the Reds – or Sheehan for multiple innings in Game 1 against Philadelphia. As a result, the idea of using Glasnow, Sheehan, and Kershaw as innings eaters, the area where the Dodgers’ relievers have struggled during the regular season, makes more sense than pinning one as a dedicated closer, capped off with a Jhoan Duran-style entrance.

Sasaki, by contrast, likely won’t be called upon to pitch a multi-inning outing if someone gets into trouble early on, as he’s firing off 100-plus mph heaters on the regular in his relief efforts out of the Dodgers’ bullpen so far this season.

Since returning to the Dodgers following a stint on IL and a rehab run in OKC, Sasaki has pitched three innings for the Dodgers, earning six Ks while allowing just one hit and no runs. Of the 36 pitches Sasaki has thrown coming out of the bullpen, 28 have been strikes, with his 101.4 MPH heater routinely leaving hitters like Cal Raleigh looking.

Is Sasaki a guaranteed closer, with the kind of ice in his veins needed to throw unhitable pitches with men on base and the game on the line? Unfortunately, fans can’t say either way, as Sasaki has largely been used as a starter for his entire baseball career and will likely return to that role in the future for the Dodgers unless he really comes into his own as a generational-caliber closer. But in Game 2, the Dodgers did find themselves in a decently high leverage situation, with their massive lead shrinking by three runs in the eighth inning to make things interesting in an otherwise lopsided game.

If the Dodgers find themselves in a save situation at any point against the Phillies, either due to the offense regressing to their usual standards or other bullpen pitchers dropping the ball like Game 1 against the Reds, Roberts needs to put the ball in Sasaki’s glove and allow him to prove he can be the dude to close out games this October. If he succeeds, great, the Dodgers will be in fantastic shape and have an arm they can lean on to close out contests. And if he fails? Well, he can join the club of closers like Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates, and more, who have tried to fill that role only to fail in the regular season.

This article first appeared on MLB on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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