Dodgers Interview: At DodgerFest, Sasaki vows to earn a spot in rotation

LOS ANGELES — There’s always a crowd around the Dodgers’ Japanese stars and DodgerFest last Saturday was no exception. Young righthander Roki Sasaki met the gaggle of media head on and sounded like someone who’s already treating 2026 like a work-in-progress. He kept coming back to the same themes: review what didn’t feel right last season, rebuild the base of his body, and earn his spot in the rotation. Even when the questions drifted toward bigger stages, he steered it back to Camelback Ranche and his own daily preparation for 2026.

“Last season ended in the best way, and I’ve been preparing for this year with that in mind,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “We finished in a good form, but personally there were a lot of challenges. I wanted to look back at that properly, and I think I’ve been able to prepare well for this season.”

It was by any measure a weird year for Sasaki. He struggled with consistency in the regular season, walking a lot more guys than he’s ever before. His two starts in March were rough, but he seemed to right the ship in April, posting a 3.05 ERA in that month. But May saw old problems crop up again and by the time he hit the IL in the second week of the month, his ERA was stuck at a meh 4.72 with a 1.49 WHIP. That led to over four months on the shelf. Nobody knew what they had when he finally returned. But he became kind of a “secret weapon” out of the pen, throwing lots of clutch innings, including a nine-up, nine-down gem against the Phillies in the NLDS. His ERA for the postseason was an awesome 0.84, and his WHIP was a much more manageable 1.03. THAT was the Sasaki we were hoping for all year.

So which one shows up to camp in Arizona? A lot will depend on his health.

When he was asked how he plans to get stamina back as he works toward longer starts, Sasaki described it as a mix of pitching efficiently and building his base physically. “First, I want to be able to throw in a good way where I’m not wasting energy,” he said. “And then on top of that, I think it’s important to strengthen the simple physical side too. If I do those things, I think I can build it back.”

A big part of his offseason work, he explained, has been less about chasing a single mechanical tweak and more about restoring normal movement patterns so his delivery can hold up as the season gets heavier. “It’s not only about my delivery on the mound,” Sasaki said. “I’ve been reviewing the functional parts of my body in general, and I think if I can get that back to normal first, then the form will follow naturally. So before I focus only on the delivery, I’ve been working on restoring normal function. Things like getting my hips back to a neutral position, and then being able to produce power from there. That’s what I’ve been doing through training and that kind of work.”

On where he stands heading into camp, Sasaki didn’t talk like someone assuming anything will be handed to him. He described it as a situation where the competition is real, and his job is to show up ready and win his spot. “I think it’s a decision that comes from the team, too,” he said with a laugh, “but I want to compete once I’m there. The situation is basically the same as it was before the season ended, and I know I have to go earn my position. I think the competition starts in spring training, so I want to work hard.”

The World Baseball Classic came up, and Sasaki made it clear the desire is there even if the plan isn’t. And it was pretty obvious that the young pitcher and his team didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on this one. “No matter what, I have the feeling that I want to play on a special stage,” he said. “I wanted to do that this time too. But I talked with the team, and it’s also their decision, so right now I’m focused on this season.”

When he described what his offseason training looks like at this point, he basically repeated the same foundation he’d been laying the whole interview: body function first, then the normal workload of a pitcher getting ready for camp. “Like I said, I’m working on getting those functional parts back,” Sasaki said. “I’m doing the regular team training, and I’m also pitching. People ask if my body has changed or if my weight has changed, but my weight hasn’t changed.”

He said the real difference is what he’s trying to correct underneath the surface. “Over the last year, there were a lot of areas where I wasn’t able to use my body functionally,” Sasaki said. “So first I want to be able to control and use my body the way I intend. And on top of that, I’m continuing the weight training and the things I’ve done before, rebuilding that consistently.”

And when he was asked if not doing the WBC might help him concentrate on spring and make it easier to focus on the season as a starter, Sasaki answered it directly, with the goal stated plainly. “My position isn’t secured,” he said of his potential spot in the starting rotation. “So I need to get through camp, get good results, and do what I can to get into the rotation. That’s what I want to do.”

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