rewrite this title Roki Sasaki Struggles Through Final Start Before Regular Season

March 23, 2026

in Baseball

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Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki had another rough start Monday, exiting the game without recording an out in the first inning.

Sasaki plunked the first batter of the ballgame, then allowed the following two baserunners to reach — one via fielders choice and the other with a free pass. He walked the next two batters after being ahead in the count to score two runs before being removed from the game.

The damage didn’t stop there, though, as Sasaki earned two more runs after Josh Lowe singled off of Ronan Kopp to score two.

After the first inning, Sasaki’s stat line was 0.0 innings pitched, no hits, four earned runs and three walks. He is still eligible to re-enter the game, and will hope to improve should he return.

UPDATE: Sasaki pitched into the fourth inning, leaving the game after a leadoff walk. He didn’t allow a hit throughout the outing, but issued six free passes and had four earned runs. He threw a total of 66 pitches.

rewrite this title Roki Sasaki Struggles Through Final Start Before Regular Season — Mar 3, 2026; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) is taken out f the game by manager Dave Roberts (30) against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

How Has Roki Sasaki Pitched During Spring Training?

Sasaki has struggled this spring, posting a 13.50 ERA through three games heading into Monday’s game against the Angels.

He has allowed three or more runs in all of his starts in 2026 and has been openly critical of his performances so far, but holds out hope he can recover and perform to the best of his ability by the beginning of the season.

“From the standpoint of results, I’m glad this was Spring Training,” Sasaki said after his most recent outing against the Kansas City Royals. “If I’m able to pitch the entire season, I don’t think anyone will remember Spring Training.”

“…I have a lot of things I need to work on. But it’s just Spring Training, so just keep continuing to work on that. The results in Spring Training don’t really matter.”

Despite his struggles throughout spring training, the Dodgers are insistent upon keeping Sasaki as a starter rather than a reliever—a role in which he flourished at the end of the 2025 season.

“He’s going to be one of our starters, and I just think that I’ve been very consistent in the sense that we don’t solely evaluate Spring Training as in its entirety along,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“He’s got things to prove, consistency of getting guys out, of strike throwing, but he’s going to get that opportunity to start the season and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Do you think the Dodgers should be worried about Sasaki?