After struggling in his 2026 Cactus League debut last week, Roki Sasaki turned in another uneven outing for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
The right-hander did not record any outs in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians, allowing two hits and walking three. He gave up a grand slam to Kyle Manzardo and threw only eight of his 23 pitches for strikes.
Sasaki was allowed to re-enter the game in the second inning and looked like a different pitcher. He retired the next six batters and had better command, throwing 13 of his final 22 pitches for strikes.
Sasaki hasn’t inspired much confidence in his first two starts of the spring, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he is still expected to be part of the team’s starting rotation to begin the 2026 season, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I think it can change, but I don’t think it’s going to change before we break (camp),” Roberts said Tuesday. “We see him as a starter and (we are) giving him every opportunity for success. But again, we still have to coach him up and he’s still got to continue to get outs and work ahead like major-league starters do.
“You want everyone to pitch well. You want everyone to stay healthy. I think right now where we’re at, I don’t think we need to really talk about a competition as far as the rotation. Guys just need to keep building up, getting better. Once we get to the 21st of March, we’ll have a better idea once we break camp. But I think right now there’s just too much that can happen.”
Roberts didn’t seem overly concerned with Sasaki’s struggles against the Guardians and chalked them up to mechanical issues. The 24-year-old indicated that he made some changes prior to coming back out for the second inning and was able to salvage his start.
Another bright spot was that Sasaki’s fastball velocity topped out at 99.3 mph, and his secondary pitches were effective as well. In addition to his splitter, Sasaki continued to experiment with his new cutter-slider that he hopes will develop into a viable third pitch.
Will Roki Sasaki be part of Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation?
As it currently stands, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow are locks for the Dodgers’ Opening Day starting rotation.
With Blake Snell and Gavin Stone not expected to be ready for Opening Day, the final two or three spots will likely go to a combination of Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Justin Wrobleski.
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