Dalton Rushing Sends Message to Dodgers Pitcher

In his first 10 career starts with Dalton Rushing behind the plate, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki had a 4.85 ERA. Opponents had an .835 OPS against the second-year pitcher — in effect, turning every hitter into Max Muncy with Sasaki on the mound and Rushing behind the plate.

Then came Sasaki's last start.

In beating the Seattle Mariners last week, Sasaki threw five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth. His final line — 5.1 innings, five hits, two runs allowed, three walks and seven strikeouts — extended his streak of starts with at least five innings pitched and two or fewer earned runs allowed to three.

Rōki Sasaki, 100mph Fastball and 93mph Splitter, Individual Pitches + Overlay pic.twitter.com/LqkRfZ5sTZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 31, 2026

Considering Sasaki had much better numbers (4.32 ERA, .744 opponents' OPS) when throwing to Will Smith, it was a good sign that Sasaki could adjust to a new catcher (and an important one moving forward following the injury to Rushing).

Last week, Rushing said the reason for Sasaki's recent improvement is simple.

“I think it all goes back to throwing ‘Strike One,’” Rushing said after Sasaki's last start. “If you get ‘Strike One,’ I think everyone knows how good his splitter is. It gives you a little bit of leeway as far as execution. You just throw it around the zone and you get a lot of swings like we saw tonight.

“It’s easier to check off on his splitter if you’re 1-0, 2-0 as a hitter. It’s a little tougher when you’re 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 – pitcher leverage counts. I think the message to him is continue to get ‘Strike One’ and allow hitters to get themselves out after that.”

Rōki Sasaki, Disgusting 93mph Splitter. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/oLLnao5skA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 31, 2026

Manager Dave Roberts echoed the same sentiment, noting that Sasaki's confidence throwing in the zone early in counts has improved.

“The second half when he came out that first start, you just saw that I think he just kind of decided that it’s time to go and finish strong," Roberts said. "It’s a new half and it’s a new beginning. You’ve seen a different player, to be quite honest. There’s a lot more, as Dalton said, there’s a lot more confidence. Not just kind of the in-between and uncertain. I use that word conviction a lot. There’s a lot of conviction. So it’s been really good.”

In a span of four starts, Sasaki has lowered his ERA from 5.40 on July 2 to 4.64. He's 5-5 in 19 starts in his second MLB season.

Unfortunately, Sasaki will have to work with another catcher moving forward as Rushing is on the injured list with a slightly torn UCL. It's unclear if he'll be able to return as a catcher this season.

In Sasaki's next start, sometime during the weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he'll either throw to Ben Rortvedt or Hunter Feduccia, both of whom were acquired ahead of Monday's trade deadline.

Sasaki does have some experience with Rortvedt from the catcher's time with LA late last season. He pitched two scoreless innings with Rortvedt, but both came in one-inning stints as a reliever.

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