The Dodgers lost to the Rangers 5-2 on Sunday, and Roki Sasaki’s latest start left them with more questions than answers. The right-hander lasted four innings, threw 94 pitches and needed 32 of them to get through the third, a stretch that summed up how hard the afternoon became once his command slipped away.
Sasaki issued five free passes, including a walk to Evan Carter, and finished with just 39 strikes. In the first inning, Brandon Nimmo singled and moved to second after Carter’s walk, then Corey Seager, Jake Burger and Joc Pederson all struck out while Nimmo was signaling from second base. That sequence drew attention because Fabian Ardaya noted Nimmo was targeting Sasaki’s splitters, and the article says Sasaki was tipping pitches in that opening inning.
That was not the main problem. The larger issue was the same one that has followed Sasaki: he continues to struggle with command, and the Dodgers appear unsure how to handle a pitcher whose stuff is obvious but whose strikes are not. Dylan Hernandez’s blunt assessment of Sasaki — that he is “too good for the minors, not good enough for the majors” — captures the bind. The Dodgers should work on whatever was giving away Sasaki’s splitter in that first inning, but they also need a fix for the broader pattern that left him laboring through four innings after 94 pitches.
Sunday did not settle anything for Los Angeles. It only sharpened the question the Dodgers have been circling for weeks: how long can they keep sending Sasaki out while he looks capable of missing bats and incapable of finishing innings?
