Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki had a successful 2026 season, but he still has plenty of room to grow before he reaches his peak.
Roki Sasaki was not expected to be nearly as good as he turned out to be. He had a horrible Spring Training that raised questions about his viability in the Major Leagues.
He couldn’t throw a strike in spring ball, and hitters crushed every pitch in the zone.
How Roki Sasaki had such a successful season
The Dodgers’ coaches and organization never wavered in their belief in Sasaki, thinking he could overcome it, and they kept him in the rotation.
Sasaki didn’t flame out; instead, he held his own and maintained steady back-end rotation production, with flashes of really great stuff.
His command was still a problem, but his velocity stayed consistent inning to inning, and he offered enough challenge pitches for his defense to overcome his consistency issues.
In the first half of the season, he found some consistency with his traditional splitter, a pitch he could throw for strikes and that got some insane whiffs.
He leaned on it to stay afloat long enough to reset during his All-Star break.
After the break, he returned with newfound fastball velocity, averaging 98 MPH, a full tick and change up from his previous seasonal average.
He carried that velocity into a stellar second half, posting a 2.83 ERA in 41.1 innings.
A blister cut his workload short and sent him to the IL, but even after returning, he was a reliable bullpen arm for the Dodgers, offering length and the ability to handle higher-leverage work.
Now, the stage is set for an even higher level in 2027.
How can Roki Sasaki improve?
The Japanese pitcher is still very much raw and unpolished.
Sasaki averaged 97.9 MPH on his fastball through 2026, which was up from 96.1 MPH in his rookie year. His fastball is in a good spot, but his secondary offers room to grow.
“My (fastball) velocity came back at the end,” Sasaki said in Japanese after the Dodgers season ended.
“Regarding that, I have to continue doing what I’ve done up to this point. I still don’t think I’m there with my breaking balls. I want to level up their quality.”
Sasaki started developing his slider this season, and it had moments when it looked unhittable, but Sasaki is right: it is still far from a great third option for a starter.
His fastball is where it needs to be, and so is the splitter; add a great slider on top of that, and Sasaki will be in a great spot to give hitters three different looks.