Los Angeles Dodgers Dave Roberts supported Roki Sasaki after his rough outing on Tuesday, March 3, which saw him not even get an out to start the game.
Sasaki, a highly touted right-hander who came from Japan, failed to get his pitching arsenal going against the Cleveland Guardians.
His RPMs on the four-seam fastball were lower than his regular-season rookie campaign, an alarming figure considering his struggles in 2025.
His velocity was stable, but the location was off from the jump, and batters quickly backed off and let him walk them or give them a flat fastball down the middle.
He threw 23 pitches in the first inning before being pulled from the game after he gave up four runs, with three walks and two hits. There were only a total of eight strikes thrown by Sasaki.
Sasaki came back out for the start of the second inning and retired his next six hitters, getting two strikeouts.
He generated 10 whiffs, four from his new cutter, two from his four-seamer, and three from his splitter, along with another from his sinker.
Despite the struggles, Roberets is not changing how he views things with the righty.
“I think it can change, but I don’t think it’s going to change before we break (camp),” Roberts said. “We see him as a starter and (we are) giving him every opportunity for success.
Roki Sasaki Reacts to his start
After the game, Sasaki was notably still somewhat upbeat about his performance.
“The past few years, actually, my mechanics were really bad. It’s not something that I really want, so I’m now trying to make some adjustments,” Sasaki said after his start.
“I was able to find something I could really trust. But I still need to work on [it] to reproduce in the game. I was able to find a better way to use my lower body, but I still have some issues in the upper body, so I’m gonna work on it and keep moving forward.”
Luckily, the Dodgers don’t need Roki to succeed, but his development would be another feather in their cap and help show that even though they spend money, talent get schances and improves when joining the organization.
