Roki Sasaki has arrived in Los Angeles with the same questions he carried into the season: control and command problems that have persisted through the early 2026 stretch as the Dodgers host a three-game series against a Chicago club on a 10-game roll.
The numbers underline the awkwardness. The Cubs have won each of their last 10 games. Sasaki, who logged 54 regular-season innings and another 10.2 postseason innings as a rookie in 2025, has a 6.11 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP this year, with a walk rate sitting around 14.1 percent and an uneven upper-90s velocity. He showed a sparkling ERA in a recent bullpen stint, but struck out just six batters and walked five, a split that helps explain why the Dodgers are not ready to move him to a relief role.
Rowan Kavner says the club plans to let Sasaki work through these issues in the major leagues rather than burying him in the bullpen, and she points out that, even with those unseemly numbers, the Dodgers still boast the best starters’ ERA and WHIP in the National League. That combination — high-end depth and a patient posture toward a young arm — is central to the team’s approach.
It helps that Los Angeles is not carrying this season on Sasaki’s shoulders alone. The trio of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow has combined for a 1.91 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 18 walks, a run that has flattened what might otherwise be a crisis. Justin Wrobleski, working as the club’s sixth starter, is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA, and the team expects Blake Snell back sometime next month. Offensively, Andy Pages — who took a leap last summer and produced nearly a four-win season for the Dodgers — is off to a scorching start, giving the club more room to tolerate uneven starting outings.
Deesha Thosar framed the situation bluntly: the Dodgers have the kind of depth other executives dream about, making it easy to give Sasaki a long leash, and his current struggles are not throwing the bullpen out of whack. That depth, she argued, is exactly why the organization is comfortable letting him work things out in the rotation rather than hiding the problem elsewhere.
Still, the situation is not without friction. River Ryan is currently on the shelf with a hamstring issue, and the club says it is being careful with his innings after the time he missed last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. That limits one option for quick fixes. Meanwhile, Sasaki’s walk rate, his low strikeout total in recent relief work and any hint of a dip in velocity are all real, measurable concerns; Thosar singled out a potential velocity drop as the only true red flag worth watching for this right-hander.
For fans keeping an eye on the dodger score and the bigger picture, the immediate stakes are simple: Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX, a national window that will offer another snapshot of whether Sasaki’s problems are a temporary wobble or the start of something deeper. The Cubs’ heater and the Dodgers’ depth make this a compelling late-April litmus test for both clubs.
Given the mix of elite starters, insurance arms and a hot lineup, the Dodgers are right to buy time — but the single consequential unanswered question is clear: will Sasaki’s velocity and command stabilize before his mistakes become costly? If the answer is yes, the club’s patient bet will look prescient; if the answer is no, Los Angeles may have to change course and quickly.
