Andrew Friedman Explains Dodgers' Rationale for Not Demoting Roki Sasaki

Little went right for Roki Sasaki as a starting pitcher during his rookie season, but the year was salvaged by a remarkable performance out of the bullpen that helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series.

Despite Sasaki looking like a much different pitcher in that role, the Dodgers maintained throughout the offseason the plan was for him to be back in the rotation in 2026. Despite the opportunity to establish himself as a starter, the right-hander has continued to struggle.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman nevertheless believes Sasaki will benefit from being part of the Opening Day rotation, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group.

“There’s obviously a big gap between Triple-A and the big leagues,” Friedman said. “With certain really talented young players that we really believe in, we think that last mile of player development is generally better served at the major-league level.

“That said, even with our established guys it’s one of continued player development. Now for some guys, that’s more on the margins. For other guys there’s more involved. But we believe very strongly that he is going to be a very successful major-league starter. Just how quickly that comes to be is a fair question. Obviously we’re going to pour everything we can into making that happen sooner rather than later and we’ll go from there.”

Friedman's comments echo a sentiment Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has consistently shared during Spring Training even as Sasaki pitched to uneven results. His struggles prompted the team to have Sasaki pitch in a 'B' game against Chicago White Sox Minor Leaguers.

The hope was for that to serve as a springboard of sorts, but Sasaki endured more inconsistency in his latest Cactus League outing on Tuesday.

There were early signs Sasaki had found his footing against the Kansas City Royals, as he retired six of eight batters faced through the first two innings. During which time Sasaki showed fastball command and improved feel on his cutter.

But then came three consecutive walks to load the bases with one out in the third inning. Sasaki attributed the sudden loss of the strike zone to the sinker impacting his forearm and having a lower arm slot.

Sasaki was removed from the game but re-inserted in the fourth inning. That led to giving up a two-run homer. He later allowed a double in the fifth inning before his night officially came to an end.

What Roki Sasaki thinks about Spring Training

The Dodgers as an organization take a measured view of Spring Training results, and that's extended to Sasaki when evaluating his performance.

"From the standpoint of results, I’m glad this was Spring Training," Sasaki said in Japanese. "If I’m able to pitch the entire season, I don’t think anyone will remember Spring Training."