The Los Angeles Dodgers still can’t figure out Roki Sasaki.
The Japanese phenom struggled when he first arrived last season and only found his footing after moving to the bullpen during the playoffs. Everyone figured this year would be different—more time to adjust to MLB hitters, better command of his arsenal.
Instead, he’s gotten worse.
Right now, the Dodgers are looking at some tough decisions with their prized international signing. They need to figure out how to salvage what’s become a pretty messy situation.
“Sasaki has been wild and hittable, leading to an unsightly 1.809 WHIP. He has allowed 13 walks, 28 hits and seven home runs in just 22⅔ innings,” ESPN’s David Schoenfield wrote Tuesday, calling Sasaki this season’s most disappointing starter so far.
The numbers tell the story, but here’s what’s really concerning: Sasaki’s bread-and-butter pitch isn’t the problem.
His splitter still gets swings and misses when he can get ahead in the count. But that’s where everything falls apart. The fastball that was supposed to set up his secondary stuff has become a batting practice offering.
“Though Sasaki throws plenty hard, averaging 97 mph on his fastball, it’s straight and doesn’t miss bats,” Schoenfield noted. “Batters are 17-for-43 (.395) with five home runs against it.”
That’s the kind of stat line that keeps pitching coaches up at night.
What’s Next for Sasaki
The good news? The Dodgers are still winning games without Sasaki contributing much. They’ve got enough depth and talent to weather this storm while they figure things out.
That buys them time to make the right call instead of a panicked one.
Schoenfield suggests Triple-A might be the answer: “He’s in the rotation for now, and he needs the innings to work on his repertoire, but maybe those innings need to come in Triple-A.”
It’s not a crazy idea. Sometimes young pitchers need to step back and rebuild their confidence against less advanced hitters. The Dodgers did something similar with Julio Urías early in his career, and that worked out pretty well.
But there’s also the bullpen route that worked during last year’s playoff run. Maybe Sasaki’s stuff plays better in shorter bursts while he continues developing his command.
The way I see it, the Dodgers have three options:
- Send him to Triple-A to work on his fastball command away from the spotlight
- Move him back to the bullpen where he’s already shown he can succeed
- Keep him in the rotation and let him pitch through the struggles
Each approach has merit, but the clock’s ticking. The longer this goes on, the more it affects both Sasaki’s confidence and the team’s rotation depth.
If the Dodgers can get this right—and their track record with pitcher development suggests they will—they’ll have another weapon for what’s shaping up to be another deep playoff run.
For now, though, it’s still a problem that needs solving.
