Dodgers' Dave Roberts Sends Message to Roki Sasaki Amid Struggles

Things are going great for the Los Angeles Dodgers as of late, but with a long list of pitching injuries, there is some pressure on the starting rotation to continue pitching well.

Pitchers on the injured list are unfortunately a familiar scene for the Dodgers, but these injuries have created a longer runway for multiple pitchers to get opportunities.

One of those is right-hander Roki Sasaki, who has had a rough stretch of outings following a month of May that saw his best stuff of the season.

In Sasaki's 28.1 innings in May, he notched an ERA of 3.18 while striking out 28 batters and walking six. His first start of June was perhaps the best of his young MLB career as he punched out 10 batters and allowed two hits across seven scoreless innings.

In the four outings that have followed, he has totaled an ERA of 10.06, striking out 15 and walking 11. The inconsistency and visible lack of command is something that plagued him during last year's rookie campaign as well, but manager Dave Roberts still has confidence in his right-hander.

“We had a great May, so let’s just get back to competing and making pitches,” Roberts said to reporters as a message to Sasaki.

Roberts isn't the only one who believes that Sasaki's best is still yet to come as catcher Dalton Rushing — someone who has had an elevated role this past month with the absence of All-Star backstop Will Smith — sees a few ways his pitcher can improve.

“I thought it was a conviction thing with Roki,” Rushing said. “I don’t think his stuff was too far off. You just, you got to attack the strike zone. With stuff like that, you throw 100, you have three pitches, two plus, and yeah, we need him to be in the zone a little more early.”

Despite allowing six earned runs on seven hits in his most recent start against the San Diego Padres, Sasaki believes his stuff was still there.

"I threw a pretty good fastball and command-wise, I feel pretty good about the off speed pitches as well," Sasaki said. "But overall, it wasn't great but a lot of things kind of evolved."

"I don't think my stuff was bad today."

Roki Sasaki (3.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 88 P) talks with the media after the #Dodgers 12-7 win over the Padres. pic.twitter.com/evudjF4WiA
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 3, 2026

Sasaki's fastball averaged 97.8 mph in the outing and generated seven swings-and-misses. For reference, Sasaki's 10-strikeout game a month ago saw a fastball average of 98.3 mph, but 17 swings-and-misses on just 10 more total pitches.

As Sasaki mentioned, his stuff was still there and his fastball was still on par with his best outings. Regardless of the "stuff' attached to it, Sasaki's pitches just need to get back in the zone more consistently.

He'll have an opportunity to do that on Wednesday night against the Colorado Rockies, his final start before the All-Star break.

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