Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing scrutiny after a young pitcher’s unexpected admission before a key game against the Guardians.
- Despite a solid performance, the pitcher revealed a critical lack of confidence, sparking concerns about his mental resilience.
- This candid statement has amplified doubts about his ability to meet the high expectations of a championship-contending team.
On a night in which he allowed only one run and two walks over four innings, you’d think the talk about Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki’s first start of 2026 would have been positive — especially following a dreadful spring training in which he looked like he hardly belonged on a big-league mound.
Instead, the 24-year-old’s maturity and makeup became a trending topic, and not because of anything bad that Sasaki did against the Guardians. After struggling with command all camp, he threw roughly 58% of his pitches for strikes and, although he took the loss in the Dodgers’ 4-2 defeat, did enough to keep the Dodgers in the game. All in all, it was at least a step forward.
Evidently, though, Sasaki didn’t take the mound in the first inning expecting to pitch as well as he did.
“I actually didn’t have confidence at all before this game started,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But I was just focusing on doing what I can control.”
Yikes. Of all the things that pitchers are supposed to say, openly admitting that they lacked confidence going into a start is fairly high up on the “do not say this under any circumstances” tier rankings.
Roki Sasaki's start wasn't as positive as the numbers suggest
At first blush, it seems like a pleasant surprise: just two walks over four innings, with one run allowed on four hits and four strikeouts. Considering that he was sitting on a 15.58 ERA with 15 walks in just 8.2 innings of work — and had a full-fledged meltdown in which he struggled to record a single out in his final tune-up start — it could've been a whole lot worse.
That said, it's still hard to see this as a legitimate foundation upon which to build. Sasaki showcased a new cutter, giving him another pitch that he was, crucially, able to throw for strikes on a consistent basis. But the command, while a bit improved, was still far from good. And his four-seam fastball remains a sore spot, generating very few swings and misses because of its poor movement profile (in layman's terms: it doesn't rise despite high-90s velocity, allowing hitters to get the bat on the ball). Add in a bad night for his trademark splitter, which wasn't in the zone or getting batters to chase out of it, and it feels like a minor miracle the final line wasn't even worse.
Really, the problems with Sasaki remain largley what they were a week or two ago, even if he's made small strides forward with his command. The stuff simply doesn't look anything like a premium starter — and even more concerningly, it appears to be wearing on his confidence.
The Dodgers should be alarmed by Roki Sasaki disclosing his lack of confidence
If you’re anything like me, then you’d often pass a test in high school or college and be amazed by how well you did. There were a couple of times I finished an exam barely hoping to scrape by, yet I got a solid “C.”
There is a significant difference between an 18-year-old college freshman and a 24-year-old Major League pitcher — or, at least, there’s supposed to be. I could get away with telling my friends, “I can’t believe that I passed.” Sasaki, or any big-leaguer for that matter, is never supposed to say they had no confidence ahead of a game.
On the one hand, I understand how someone could appreciate Sasaki’s candidness and brutal honesty. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that as a professional athlete, you need to understand how to properly convey a point. Saying something along the lines of, “I know that I had a difficult spring, but I feel good about myself,” would have been far more efficient.
I’m just going to say it: There is no shame in lying, at least in situations like this. But Sasaki unintentionally raised significant questions about his ability to handle the pressures of being a Major League player, regardless of whether his long-term future is as a reliever or a starter.
Roki Sasaki just gave his critics far more reason to doubt him
In fairness, maybe we’re being slightly too hard on Sasaki. He’s still only 24 years old, and it was already clear that his control issues had impacted his confidence. Watching Sasaki pitch this spring was painful, as he constantly looked desperate and nervous in Cactus League play.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts defended Sasaki, pointing out that he worked out of a third-inning jam without letting things spiral.
“When you don’t have success, it’s hard to have real confidence,” Roberts told reporters. “That was certainly an honest admission. But when you perform, you start to have true confidence. So hopefully he can build on this one.”
What happens, though, if Sasaki doesn’t build off the positives of Monday’s start? Should the Dodgers be concerned if he allows five runs and walks three in his next outing? How about if Sasaki ends April with an ERA exceeding 8.00?
If I’m L.A., I’m already preparing for the possibility of Sasaki needing to be in the Minors by Memorial Day. In theory, you can tweak your batting stance amid a slump or re-evaluate how you’re throwing your curveball after a bad game. But fixing a lack of confidence when it’s as bad as Sasaki’s seems to be might be a challenge the Dodgers might not even deem worthy of addressing, not when the two-time defending champions have such high expectations.
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