After a disappointing regular season and a shoulder injury that cost him four months worth of time, Roki Sasaki was the saving grace for the Dodgers bullpen during their most recent title run.
Sasaski was finally able to show flashes of his promising potential that was heavily advertised the offseason prior, and after his brief bullpen stint, he is now set to return to the Dodgers rotation this upcoming season. Just like how his 2025 regular season began, Sasaki has struggled mightily on the mound over his first two starts of the spring.
Sasaki allowed three runs in his first start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, following that up by allowing another four runs against the Cleveland Guardians via a grand slam from Kyle Manzardo on Tuesday. Although the Dodgers were able to salvage both games after the right-hander’s departures, the early results have painted a bleak picture on Sasaki’s outlook ahead of opening day. Despite the struggles, the plan is to keep him in the rotation come the Dodgers opening series on March 26, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“I think it can change. But I don’t think it’s gonna change before we break,” Roberts said. “Building him up, we see him as a starter, and giving him every opportunity for success. But again, we still gotta coach him up, and he’s still gotta continue to get outs and work ahead like Major League starters do.”
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River Ryan later came in relief during Tuesday’s contest against Cleveland, and tossed two scoreless innings while striking out three and allowing zero hits and one walk. Ryan’s stock for making the opening day rotation is rising with every appearance— especially with Blake Snell and Gavin Stone officially ruled out— but Dave Roberts won’t make any hasty decisions too early amidst the competition, per Courtney Hollmon of MLB.com.
“I think right now, where we’re at, I don’t think we need to really talk about a competition as far as the rotation. Once we get to the 21st of March, we’ll have a better idea once we break camp. But I think right now, there’s just too much that can happen.”
Dave Roberts spoke about the team’s top pitching prospect Jackson Ferris, as the left-hander has impressed with 2 2/3 scoreless innings so far this spring, per Jack Vita of the Los Angeles Times.
“I like Jackson,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently. “I like the player. He’s a good kid. A lot of talent. I think for me, it’s just trying to harness his arsenal. It’s a good fastball. He needs to continue to get ahead, be able to put hitters away with the secondary pitches, be efficient with his pitches per inning, but I like Jackson.”
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