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It is safe to say the Los Angeles Dodgers have not gotten the level of excellence they expected from right‑handed pitcher Rōki Sasaki to start his major league career.
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Sasaki was one of the prized pitchers on the market during the 2024-2025 offseason after coming over from Japan.
And for good reason, Sasaki has electric stuff and dominated the competition overseas. He signed with the Dodgers in January of 2025 and was expected to solidify their rotation.
Unfortunately, the 24-year-old has heavily struggled in his short and injury riddled Dodgers tenure.
Over the past two seasons, Sasaki has pitched to a 5.09 ERA in 111 1/3 innings with 103 strikeouts and 54 walks.
His struggles became even more apparent following his recent blow-up start against the San Diego Padres on Thursday. Sasaki only made it through three innings while allowing six earned runs on three home runs.
Following the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that the team will do a “deep dive” into Sasaki and his mechanics. Roberts wants to check is Sasaki is tipping his pitches after stating that the Padres were “on everything.”
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Dave Roberts said the Dodgers will do a “deep dive” on Roki Sasaki, including trying to rule out pitch-tipping after seeing the Padres were “on everything.” Sasaki will still make his next turn through the rotation, Roberts said.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) July 3, 2026
Even with Sasaki’s rough stretch, Roberts still clearly has faith in him. He said Sasaki will make his next start, which will likely be his last one before the All-Star break.
It is hard not to be confident that Sasaki will return to form, one way or the other. His fastball sits regularly at 97 mph. His 7.1 foot extension is one of the most elite in baseball, and while is breaking pitches still have movement, he is struggling to find the zone and batter are not biting.
The Dodgers are expected to get starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow back from injury soon, with these two back, the Dodgers could consider moving Sasaki to the bullpen.
Sasaki thrived in his bullpen role during the 2025 postseason, posting a 0.84 ERA through 10 2.3 innings with six strikeouts.
There will be more to come on Sasaki following the deep dive from the Dodgers organization.
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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 7:19 AM.