roki sasaki

DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-4 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).

Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki got up to 94 pitches Sunday and limited the Rangers to two runs. What a showing, right?

Well, there was a major caveat. That pitch count only got him through four innings.

“It’s not that many,” Sasaki said through Japanese interpreter Kensuke Okubo after the Dodgers’ 5-2 loss Sunday against the Rangers at Dodger Stadium. “So my goal is [to] go deeper in the game a little more.”

Sasaki’s inefficiency seemed to stem from the command issues that plagued him all spring. Manager Dave Roberts challenged him then to find a way to compete even when he didn’t have his best stuff.

In three starts, he’s done that for the most part, though he’s had several innings that have teetered on the edge of completely spiraling.

Especially with the Dodgers committed to a six-man rotation, which by definition limits the number of arms in the bullpen, that’s not going to be enough long term. In order to avoid regularly taxing the bullpen Sasaki is going to need to show that he can be more efficient.

“With the stuff that he had today, the six strikeouts and the swing-and-miss and all that stuff, that sets up for going deeper in the game,” Roberts said. “So that’s something that I talked to him about, and challenging him to, when you take the baseball, we’re trying to go five innings or more. So I think that’s the next progression for him, to be consistently able to do that.

“But I do feel the growth part of it is to hang in there and make pitches when he needs to.”

Even Sasaki’s line displayed that push and pull of good stuff but inconsistent command. He recorded six strikeouts, the most he’s had in a game in parts of two seasons in MLB. He also walked five, tying his major-league career high.

“Honestly, some of the misses were just off, certainly with the fastball,” Roberts said. “So I think that maybe trying to be a little bit too fine. … Where before, there were some bad misses and maybe a little too (much) running from the strike zone. Where I don’t see that now.”

After giving up a leadoff single to Brandon Nimmo and walking Evan Carter to begin the game, Sasaki struck out the next three batters he faced.

He put away Corey Seager and Jake Burger with fastballs, getting away with one down the middle to Seager and getting Burger to chase up. And then he showcased the splitter as strike three to Joc Pederson.

“I think I was able to throw it on the plate, and also had a good depth,” Sasaki said.

Sasaki’s splitter generated six whiffs and three called strikes Sunday, a season high. One of them fooled Burger so thoroughly that he had to catch himself from falling forward. So, that development was promising.

As for Sasaki’s efficiency issues, walks were never an issue for him in Japan (2.0 walks per nine innings). And coming out of the bullpen late last season and through the playoffs, he showed he could take a more aggressive approach to attacking hitters. So, he at least has a blueprint.

“That’s kind of the mindset of a reliever, because you’re going to go shorter and you’re not going to throw as many pitches, so you can kind of empty the tank,” Roberts said. “With starters, they train for more pitches, more innings. And you have to have it in your head to still have that same mindset and trust that your work can sustain 90-100 pitches with the same mindset and effort. So that’s something that we’ve got to get to that point.”

A fastball up and off the plate to Guardians left-handed hitter Steven Kwan was an inauspicious beginning to Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki’s season debut.

The arm-side miss fell in line with a persistent spring-training pattern for Sasaki, who struggled with command from his first Cactus League start through his Freeway Series appearance last week.

Over the course of a seven-pitch strikeout, however, Sasaki adjusted — something he failed to do during game action this spring.

“I actually didn’t have confidence at all before this game started,” Sasaki said through an interpreter Monday. “But I was just focusing on doing what I can control.”

In the Dodgers’ 4-2 loss Monday, Sasaki’s first start of the season was something of a best-case scenario. He held the Guardians to one run and four hits in four-plus innings. And the biggest difference from his spring training struggles was he issued just two walks.

The Dodgers squandered the effort with a lack of offense, in their first loss of the season.

Sasaki will have more to prove against stronger offenses than Cleveland’s. But his performance at least suggested that the Dodgers’ faith in him wasn’t misplaced.

“We know he can do it here, and especially now that his velocity is back to closer to where it used to be,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “I feel like he puts us in a great position to win.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts removes starting pitcher Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning Monday against Cleveland.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers had seen Sasaki bounce back before. He had a middling start to last season and pitched through shoulder discomfort before landing on the injured list last May. His average fastball velocity plummeted from 98 mph in his MLB debut to 94.9 mph in his last start.

He returned from the IL in time for two relief appearances in September, his fastball sitting above 99 mph, and a dominant postseason run. He didn’t allow a run in eight of his nine playoff outings, and he posted a 0.84 ERA.

“He could have cashed in last year,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “Given his health early, the lack of performance towards the middle of the year, towards the end he could have just written it off and started fresh in the offseason.

“But he was willing to pitch out of the bullpen, ramp back up and give us whatever we needed. So for me, that was something where he put himself out there. That’s why I have a lot of confidence right now [that he can] turn the corner from spring training.”

Sasaki still threw some non-competitive pitches Monday. That inefficiency brought his pitch count up to 78 pitches twice through the Guardians’ batting order, and Roberts pulled him when the lineup turned over again.

Sasaki also reigned in his misses, used both sides of the plate, and effectively deployed his new cutter as a put-away pitch early.

“I couldn’t get through five innings, but the results overall felt pretty good,” Sasaki said. “I kind of have confidence about that.”

Through the first two innings, Sasaki held the Guardians scoreless, and to just one bloop single. But in the third, he threw a four-seam fastball down the middle to Austin Hedges and hung a cutter to Kwan for a pair of doubles and a run.

Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker rounds second base after a Mookie Betts double during the ninth inning against the Guardians at Dodger Stadium on Monday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Next, Sasaki walked Chase DeLauter, and the inning threatened to spiral. But Sasaki locked in to strike out José Ramírez and induce Kyle Manzardo to line out, escaping without further damage.

With no outs and one runner on in the fifth inning, Sasaki handed the ball over and left-hander Tanner Scott took over. Dodgers fans sent Sasaki, who’d been booed during his last spring start, off with a warm ovation.

“I think it should be a big boost to his confidence,” Roberts said after the game. “… When you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence. That was certainly an honest admission. But when you perform, you start to have true confidence. So hopefully he can build on this one.”

After Scott, Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski, who is in line to join the rotation when the schedule isn’t so packed with off days, provided four innings. He gave up three runs, all in the seventh.

The Dodgers didn’t score until the final inning, with the help of a little luck. Kyle Tucker reached base on a chopper that squeaked through the infield and then advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch. Mookie Betts then drove him in with a line-drive double. Two batters later, Betts scored as Freddie Freeman grounded out to first.

“The takeaway is, we’re 3-1 and the guys that we expect to swing the bats aren’t swinging the bats right now,” Roberts said. “So that’s a good thing; they’ll hit.”

The Dodgers’ rotation order is set for the first homestand of the season.

To round out the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound Thursday on opening day, he’ll be followed by Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow. Roki Sasaki is penciled in for Monday against the Cleveland Guardians, followed by Shohei Ohtani on March 31.

Off days on Sunday and April 2 make it possible for the Dodgers to give all their pitchers at least five days’ rest between their first and second starts without needing a sixth starter.

Left-hander Justin Wrobleski is pegged to be that additional starter when the schedule features less frequent days off. In the meantime, he’ll be available to throw multiple innings out of the bullpen.

After starting the season for the Dodgers in Tokyo last year, Yamamoto is looking forward to opening day at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s going to be a different game, and with a different atmosphere,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “And then we’re coming off the championship year, then this is the first time I’ll be pitching in front of the Dodgers fans [since then].”

Yamamoto, who was on the mound for the final out of the 2025 season, hasn’t pitched at Dodger Stadium since Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sheehan claimed a regular spot in the rotation after returning last June from Tommy John surgery rehab. He had a 2.82 earned-run average through 15 appearances last season.

“I was maybe throwing bullpens right now a year ago,” Sheehan said after his last spring start. “So it’s definitely nice. That’s the main thing, to have my health. Grateful for that every time.”

Sheehan wrapped up Cactus League play with a 5.91 ERA in three starts, but he was encouraged by the progress he made in syncing up his delivery.

Glasnow capped his strong spring with five innings of one-run baseball against the Angels on Sunday.

“When everything’s lined up and feeling good … I think a lot of the other stuff follows,” Glasnow said. “And I was just able to go out and be myself.”

He recorded 11 strikeouts against the Angels, leaning on his curveball as his putaway pitch. It generated a 72% whiff rate, according to Statcast.

“Having my curveball feel so good, I kind of just leaned on it,” Glasnow said. “I’m sure things will change in-season, game to game. But tonight, it was a pretty obvious game plan for me.”

PHOENIX — By the time Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki reached the blue backdrop set up in the Surprise Stadium interview room, he’d diagnosed the issue.

“I think it’s because of the two-seamer,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “It kind of caused my forearm to pronate a little more. Also my arm slot was a little down.”

Those arm-side misses had, after three straight walks, prompted manager Dave Roberts to temporarily pull Sasaki from his most recent spring training appearance. But even though that start, marred by a wild third inning, brought Sasaki’s Cactus League ERA to 13.50, he’ll enter his Freeway Series start Monday with a spot in the regular-season rotation already secured.

Roberts has repeatedly made that point clear.

However, when asked directly if Sasaki was one of the Dodgers’ 13 best pitchers right now, Roberts gave an indirect answer: “He is going to start the season in the rotation.”

Answering why the organization has been so bullish on the decision requires zooming out.

“As we look out two, three, four, five, six years, it is imperative for us to integrate talented young players under our roster,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said during an interview with The Times last week. “And that requires patience. And we have to have that even with the insanely high expectations we have.

“We have to be able to balance those two things, or there are a lot of cautionary tales of large-revenue teams who have had a run of success, and then they fall off the cliff.”

Sasaki, 24, is one of those young players the Dodgers are counting on to bridge the gap.

When Sasaki was posted by Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines before last season, upward of 20 teams expressed their interest in the young phenom who was coming to the United States through amateur international free agency.

In his debut season, he produced a 4.72 ERA through eight starts — before an injury the Dodgers described as a right shoulder impingement sidelined him for much of the rest of the season. When Sasaki returned, it was as a reliever, a role he thrived in through the postseason.

Sasaki enters Year 2 with just 47 major-league innings under his belt, including the regular season and playoffs.

“On top of all those other things that you’re adapting to and learning, you’re also learning a new ball,” Friedman said. “Roki could really command his fastball in Japan, and right now it hasn’t been as good. So how much of that is the ball, how much of it is mindset, how much of it is delivery just getting out of whack? All of those are fair questions, but I think it speaks to, we have to have a level of grace with this and work with him to continue his development.

“Because we’ve seen it at an extremely high level, and now it’s on all of us to help him get back to that.”

NPB baseballs are slightly smaller, tackier and have higher seams than MLB baseballs. Players making the transition to MLB also have to adjust to a different strike zone, style of play and the off-the-field challenges of living in a foreign country.

The season before Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, his future teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga set the bar high with relatively smooth transitions. But they were also coming over at later stages in their careers.

“We’re very mindful that this guy is essentially two years, three years behind Yamamoto,” Roberts said, “as far as on the progression side, the development side.”

Sasaki has shown he can be effective out of the bullpen, but pigeonholing him in a relief role at this stage of his career would be a disservice to him and the organization.

The Dodgers have identified the addition of the two-seamer as a development that could help Sasaki stick as a major-league starter.

“It’s our job as coaches to get a player to understand the value of having a ball bear in and get in on right-hand hitters to keep them off the outside part of the plate,” Roberts said. “There’s a little bit of trying to pronate too much — trying to make the ball move, versus trusting his grip and his throw. But that’s a coach’s responsibility to [figure out,] how do we get him there, along with him feeling comfortable.”

The Dodgers have decided that, at least for now, the best setting for that growth is the major leagues. Across the industry, there’s an understanding that the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues is bigger than ever. That makes evaluating players in Triple-A all the more difficult.

“He’s not close to a finished product,” Roberts said. “But he’s 24. … You could look at a team that would potentially sign a veteran, turnkey starter, but we’ve got to get him to cut his teeth and deal with some things. That’s part of the growth.”

PHOENIX — It’s only fitting that the pitcher who recorded the Dodgers’ final eight outs of the World Series will take the mound on opening day, as the club tries to pick up where it left off in 2025 and chase a third straight championship in 2026.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will toe the rubber for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks — the second straight year he’s had the honor and the first time at home, after pitching last season’s opener in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.

Roberts added Yamamoto is expected to return to Camelback Ranch soon, after participating in the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. The Samurai Warriors, seeking a second straight WBC title, were eliminated by Team Venezuela Saturday night in the quarterfinals.

Yamamoto is expected to make one more start in the Cactus League before opening day, although the date has yet to be scheduled, according to Roberts.

Shohei Ohtani returned to Dodgers camp Monday morning, and Roberts plans to have a conversation with him soon about configuring his throwing plan leading up to regular season play. Per Roberts, Ohtani threw four innings in a simulated game while with Team Japan last Thursday.

“He’s going to get here and throw a bullpen,” Roberts said, adding: “I’m trying to figure out when we can get him into a game, but it should be here in the next day or two, to take some at bats. But as far as his progression, there’s going to be a bullpen soon, and [we’re] trying to figure out what day he’s going to pitch this week. It should be this week, but I’m not sure which day yet.”

Ohtani has not pitched in a Cactus League game and did not pitch in the WBC. Roberts does not expect the four-time MVP to be fully stretched out by the start of the regular season. Still, as Roberts notes, he’s further along than he was at this time a year ago, when he was working his way back from Tommy John surgery.

“I think this year we’re certainly north of that, I don’t see how we won’t be able to get to three or four innings in a major league game, so that’s certainly a better jumping-off point than last year, so we’ll see how it goes,” Roberts said.

Beyond Yamamoto, Ohtani and trusty veteran Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers’ back end of the rotation is still taking shape. Though Roberts had considered a six-man rotation to begin regular season play, he indicated Monday that he expects the club to use a five-man rotation, noting that things are still “fluid.”

Last week, Roberts said he “didn’t see a world in which Roki Sasaki doesn’t break [camp] as a starter.” That would leave one rotation spot up for the taking, with 25-year-old Justin Wrobleski, 26-year-old Emmet Sheehan and 27-year-old River Ryan among those in the running.

PHOENIX — It hasn’t been the smoothest spring training for right-hander Roki Sasaki as he prepares for his second season with the Dodgers.

Sasaki’s first two starts in Cactus League play featured some problems with command and plenty of hard contact. But with left-hander Blake Snell and right-hander Gavin Stone sidelined with shoulder issues, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts left no doubt where Sasaki stood as he got ready to pitch in a B-game against White Sox minor leaguers on Tuesday.

“Having Blake [Snell] late to the season, which we know, [and] Gavin Stone, late to the season, as we know, we’re going to need Roki,” Roberts said. “With the buildup, I just don’t see a world in which he doesn’t break with us as a starter, and so, we’re going to need those innings.”

Sasaki took a promising step forward on a minor-league field at Camelback Ranch.

The hard-throwing right-hander threw 59 pitches, 40 for strikes, across four innings while striking out nine of the 13 batters he faced and allowing two to reach base.

Although Roberts did not see Sasaki’s outing, he heard rave reviews from members of the organization who attended.

“They said it was electric,” Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch. “They said [he was touching] 98 to 100 [mph]. The fastball was spraying a little early, but then he locked it in. And then the split was on-play, short, lot of swing-and-miss. Couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

Sasaki surrendered a single through the right side of the infield to the first batter he faced, then proceeded to strike out the next seven batters. His only other hiccup came in the third inning, when he hit Jason Matthews with a stray breaking ball on a full count.

“I actually felt pretty bad the last couple days, but today I was able to make an adjustment, so that’s what I really need for right now,” Sasaki said via an interpreter after his outing. “I think I can keep moving forward.”

Sasaki was shelled in his second Cactus League start last week, yielding four runs, three walks, a single and a grand slam to the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark. He was lifted from the game without recording an out, only to get re-inserted in the second inning to complete two scoreless innings.

Sasaki noted mechanical issues as the reason for his struggles after the game. Tuesday, he said he felt much better, focusing on his core and obliques.

“I was actually focusing on core, oblique stuff,” Sasaki said. “I think it’s all about mechanics. If my mechanics are really good, my command is good too.”

Roberts took away plenty of value from the outing, even one against a lineup of minor leaguers.

“There’s still value in getting hitters out and seeing guys swing and miss,” Roberts said. “I think we accomplished what we wanted to today, we built him up. Obviously, built up some confidence. So, just go from there.”