Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations fielded direct questions on the decision to keep struggling starter Roki Sasaki in the rotation.
The Dodgers are having quite a boring spring overall, with injured players working their way back slowly and veterans getting starts every so often as they prepare for the 2026 season.
However, despite how calm the winds from Cambelback rank have been, there has been a persistent question mark hanging over the team — how will Roki Sasaki do in 2026?
Sasaki had a poor rookie regular season, given the expectations he came with when he signed in January 2025, failing to hit his previous velocity highs and showing inconsistent speeds from outing to outing.
His splitter was quite devastating, one of the best in baseball, but the entire arsenal was lacking, and it was quickly revealed that he had shoulder discomfort, which kept him out for months.
Sasaki eventually came back in a bullpen role, which suited him much better on the whole, especially because of his limited arsenal. He was able to lean on his fastball-splitter combination and became the de facto closer.
It was good enough for the Dodgers to patch their bullpen struggles and win another World Series, but in a new year, there is renewed intrigue in his ability to break through as a starter.
Roki’s rocky Spring Training
He has pitched only 6.2 spring ball innings, but he has a 13.50 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 9 walks, and 9 hits.
His command has been totally shot at times, but the velocity has been consistent and a tick higher than 2025.
However, he has not looked as good as River Ryan or Kyle Hurt, two players who were cut from the major league spring camp roster.
It has naturally brought up questions about whether Sasaki should be in the major leagues as a starter at this point, though Dave Roberts has reconfirmed that he will start the season in the rotation, and now Andrew Friedman is showing the same sense of confidence in Sasaki.
“Roki is an extremely talented young starting pitcher and there is still development left – as there is with a lot of talented young players,” Friedman told Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.
“For us, as we are trying to balance our roster looking into 2026 and beyond and we are trying to integrate talented young players onto our roster, we’re going to have to approach it with some patience and be really mindful of short-term and long-term goals. We’re going to have the same challenges with young position players and young pitchers. For us to maintain success as far as we can look out, it is imperative.”
With Sasaki locked into the rotation, the Japanese pitcher will get his shot, and it will be up to him to repay the faith that the organization has undoubtedly shown in him.
