Roki Sasaki is starting to find his groove, and his latest outing against the St. Louis Cardinals was his most encouraging start of the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers' right-handed pitcher delivered a quality start, building on two consecutive promising appearances and giving fans plenty of reason to believe in his development.
As a pitcher who arrived in Major League Baseball with the weight of a generational international prospect label, Sasaki has faced intense scrutiny. While he has shined out of the bullpen, his transition to a starting role has been a work in progress. On a Dodgers team chasing a third straight championship, every pitch is magnified—and Sasaki currently carries the highest ERA in the rotation. But over his last two outings, the Japanese star has begun to show real growth.
Against the Cardinals, Sasaki threw 104 pitches, with 65 finding the strike zone. He walked two, struck out four, and allowed five hits—including a two-run home run from Jordan Walker, which proved to be his biggest mistake of the night. He also gave up a handful of doubles, but overall, his command was sharp, and he showed growing trust in his fastball.
What really stood out was Sasaki's splitter—or rather, his two splitters. He debuted a traditional offspeed version, thrown around 90 mph, which he can control better and use for strikes. He also deployed his forkball variation, clocking in around 86 mph and generating whiffs. This dual-threat approach keeps hitters off balance and adds a new layer to his already impressive arsenal.
Despite a rough third inning that included the Walker homer and several hits, Sasaki bounced back with a clean 1-2-3 fourth inning—a sign of the resilience and mental toughness every great starter needs. For the Dodgers, who have full faith that Sasaki will eventually figure things out, these incremental steps are exactly what they want to see. A complete shutout would be the ultimate confidence booster, but for now, progress is the name of the game—and the starter experiment is looking more promising by the day.