Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki will make his final start before Opening Day against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts named his rotation for the regular season ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Halos, naming Sasaki as one of his starters for the beginning of the season. The Dodgers have shown plenty of faith in Sasaki during spring training, keeping him as a starter despite his lack of results in the Cactus League.
“He’s going to be one of our starters, and I just think that I’ve been very consistent in the sense that we don’t solely evaluate Spring Training as in its entirety along,” Roberts said.
“He’s got things to prove, consistency of getting guys out, of strike throwing, but he’s going to get that opportunity to start the season and we’ll see where we go from there.”
Sasaki has made three appearances with the Dodgers in spring training, postinga 13.50 ERA through 6.2 innings pitched. He’s struck out 10 batters in that time, though his numbers are a little disappointing following his 2025 late-season breakout.
The young right-hander is aware of his underperformance so far, though, and is working diligently to get back on the right track.
“From the standpoint of results, I’m glad this was Spring Training,” Sasaki said after his most recent outing against the Kansas City Royals. “If I’m able to pitch the entire season, I don’t think anyone will remember Spring Training.”
“…I have a lot of things I need to work on. But it’s just Spring Training, so just keep continuing to work on that. The results in Spring Training don’t really matter.”
Who Else is in the Dodgers’ Starting Rotation?
Aside from Sasaki, Roberts also named Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Shohei Ohtani in his rotation to start the year. Justin Wrobleski is also in the mix, and is likely to start somewhere down the line.
That won’t be the Dodgers’ complete rotation throughout the year, though, as Blake Snell is sure to make an appearance come the end of the season. Gavin Stone is also a candidate to start, but is currently dealing with shoulder inflammation.
River Ryan is another potential starter for the Dodgers this year, but the Dodgers opted for him to start the season in Triple-A.
Do you think Roki Sasaki can turn it around before the season begins?
