Roki Sasaki's Rough Start Is Turning Into a Real Growth Season

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Roki Sasaki's 2026 season didn't start well — a 15.58 ERA in spring training was about as rough an opening as a headline pitching prospect can have. But his more recent starts tell a different, more encouraging story.

A Rocky Spring, a Steadier Regular Season

Sasaki posted a 15.58 ERA across four Cactus League starts in spring training, walking 15 batters in just 8.2 innings. His regular-season debut on March 30 against Cleveland was still a loss, but showed real signs of recovery: four innings, four strikeouts, two walks, with his fastball sitting 98-99 mph. Manager Dave Roberts called it "growth," noting Sasaki had been nervous heading in but "responded well."

The July 30 Outing Against Seattle

In his most recent tracked start, on July 30 against the Mariners, Sasaki pitched 5.1 innings, struck out seven, allowed five hits and two runs, and earned the win in a 6-2 Dodgers victory at Dodger Stadium — generating an 18-whiff outing built largely around a splitter that drew a 60% whiff rate on swings.

Season Line and Context

As of this writing, Sasaki has made seven starts in 2026, with a 5.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts across 33.2 innings. That follows a 2025 rookie season limited by shoulder impingement, in which he posted a 4.46 ERA in restricted appearances. Taken together, the two seasons point to a talented but still-developing pitcher — not the finished product his amateur hype in Japan might have suggested, but one showing real signs of building toward it.

What To Know

Sasaki arrived in MLB as one of the most hyped Japanese pitching prospects in years, so a 15.58 spring ERA was a genuinely alarming start to 2026. His manager Dave Roberts specifically used the word "growth" to describe his season-opening outing — and starts like the July 30 win over Seattle, with a 60% whiff rate on his splitter, show why the Dodgers are still patient with his development rather than giving up on the ceiling that made him a sensation in Japan.

Sasaki's fastball has consistently touched 98-99 mph even during his roughest outings, which is part of why the Dodgers' public messaging around him has stayed focused on "development" rather than results — his manager has explicitly framed 2026 as a step toward getting "the best version of Roki Sasaki" in 2027 and beyond, not immediate polish. That's a genuinely different framing from how a struggling veteran pitcher would typically be discussed, and it matters for reading his season correctly.

What Fans Are Saying

• "A 15 ERA in spring to a 7-strikeout win over Seattle is a real arc, not just a stat line."
• "Roberts calling it growth instead of panicking is honestly the right read on a 24-year-old with this kind of stuff."
• "98-99 mph even during the rough outings is why nobody's giving up on him."

Original Japanese

• 「スプリング防御率15点台から、マリナーズ戦で7奪三振はちゃんとした成長の軌跡だと思う」
• 「監督が焦らず「成長」と表現しているのは、この若さでこの球速なら納得」
• 「調子が悪い時でも98-99マイルが出ているのが、みんなが期待し続ける理由」

Easy Japanese

佐々木朗希投手は、春のキャンプでは苦しい成績でしたが、最近の試合では良い投球が増えています。7月30日には7つの三振を取って勝利投手になりました。