Roki Sasaki’s eventful major league career finally appears to be going the way most everyone expected when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers at the start of last season.
Sasaki pitched a career-high seven innings of four-hit ball in a 10-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, turning in the longest and most dominant start of his strange tenure in blue.
The 24-year-old right-hander racked up a career-best eight strikeouts with no walks, doing it all with a burgeoning confidence he lacked for most of last season. Sasaki (2-3) repeatedly baffled the Halos while attacking the strike zone with a 98 mph fastball and his proliferating selection of breaking pitches.
“I think he has confidence in who he is as a big league pitcher, and we’re seeing some of the fruits right now,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Although he did it against the team with the worst record in the majors, Sasaki’s stuff is clearly working at a high level he has rarely reached as a starter stateside.
He was already a ballyhooed young star in January 2025 when he chose the Dodgers as his big league home for at least the next six years. But after a rookie season in which almost nothing went as planned, Sasaki has only recently shown why every team in the majors wanted him in their rotation.
“I actually felt better in my last outing, but today I felt able to throw strikes a little bit more,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “Also the offense did a great job of scoring a lot of runs.”
Sasaki hasn’t been dominant in most of his starts, but Roberts said he is clearly trending upward. He is also working well with catcher Dalton Rushing, who received credit from Roberts for calling an outstanding game at Angel Stadium.
“He looked really good today,” Rushing said. “Obviously it’s really good momentum for him to carry forward, but at the same time, there’s opportunities for him to be even better. We know that’s not his ceiling. What he just did is obviously the best we’ve seen him to this point, but I trust that guy has got a lot more in the tank, and we’re going to continue to push. But it was fun to watch.”
Sasaki is again trying to carve out a permanent spot in the Dodgers’ rotation this season after famously failing to do so as a rookie. He subsequently missed 4 1/2 months with shoulder problems, but improbably returned as Los Angeles’ closer during its playoff run to a second straight World Series title.
Sasaki’s success as a reliever was a lifesaver for the short-handed Dodgers, but it didn’t change their long-term plans for him. Sasaki returned to spring training as a rotation member again — but then he repeatedly pitched poorly in Arizona and damaged his confidence.
Exactly half the batters he faced in spring exhibitions reached base, and Sasaki struggled for any control.
Roberts said the Dodgers’ message to Sasaki has been consistent: Stop worrying about minor mechanical tweaks or fine-tuning new pitches, and simply attack the strike zone with your already formidable talent.
It took a while for Sasaki to hear it, but now it’s loud and clear — and it turns out his aggressiveness is also improving his delivery. Sasaki generated 18 swing-and-misses from the Angels, a big factor in his career-high strikeout total.
“I think one of the reasons is mechanical,” Sasaki said of his recent success. “Things are kind of clicking, and I was able to execute really well throughout the game today.”
The Dodgers need Sasaki to be sharp as they attempt to get through yet another year of major pitching injuries. High-priced starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are out once again, and closer Edwin Diaz is also on the shelf along with Jack Dreyer, their most-used reliever.
Los Angeles is still pitching superbly, going into the weekend with the third-lowest ERA in the majors. Rushing and Roberts both expect Sasaki to be a big part of the effort to keep it that way.
“Pretty much it’s a confidence thing,” Rushing said. “He needs to trust his stuff, understand how good his stuff is, and execute. … With the stuff he has, it’s easy to miss barrels, and we hadn’t quite got to see that just yet. Today was obviously a big step forward.”
Reporting by the Associated Press