The story of Roki Sasaki‘s 2026 season has basically been a lesson in the rollercoaster that is developing a young and talented but raw starter in the major leagues.
For the first month or so of the season, he couldn’t locate his pitches, but even when he did he only had one above-average offering to work with. Then he made an adjustment to his pitch mix around May, scrapping the slower forkball for a faster split that he could throw for strikes, and all of a sudden the stuff ticked up, results followed, and he looked on track to rediscovering his dominant form. Well, the league adjusted back and his command faltered again in June until the All-Star break, which was potentially compounded by the Dodgers suspecting he was having an issue with tipping his pitches.
That journey lead us to the latest stop on the rollercoaster, where he turned in his best start as a Dodger to start the second half of the season.
Roki Sasaki’s five strikeouts, which for once doesn’t really tell the story of how impressive he looked. Ace-level stuff, honestly. pic.twitter.com/8KBkKE4fCk
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 18, 2026
Notably, it also seemed to come with a borderline comically big glove, presumably meant to help him combat tipping his pitches. Dave Roberts had mentioned before the break that they identified some issues, and apparently part of it was Roki not hiding his wrist and/or fingers and/or grips, and to make things easier they basically gave him an outfielder’s mitt with an extended finger guard to make sure there was less to read.
It was a very noticeable change in his first start of the second half, to the point where Orel Hershiser and Joe Davis alluded to it in a humorous fashion on broadcast.
Orel thought it was an illusion, Joe pretty clearly thinks it’s comically big. https://t.co/BjyPaTBGTN pic.twitter.com/qr8G4FT8u3
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 18, 2026
Indeed.
So having that tackled is one potential inflection point for Roki, but the other might simply be improved mechanics leading to improved stuff leading to improved confidence.
“I made some adjustments on my delivery and it really helped me out.”
Roki Sasaki (5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 5 K, 94 P) discusses his outing in the 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
Get closer to the action with SNLA+, with the MLB app.?: https://t.co/3Pk48S45KS pic.twitter.com/Q7o4dnVAcK
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 18, 2026
Of course, the thing with Roki is that once he appears to solve an issue, he has tended to either take a step back or have another issue pop-up (or both). And since he is constantly tinkering with his mechanics, any solution he finds might be undone as quickly as the next start.
Yet the stuff is inarguably tantalizing when it’s on, and whatever changes he made this time as resulted in his highest peak yet.
Yes, he sat 100 MPH, topping out at 102 MPH, flashed not one but two double-plus splits, and a plus slider. Even with command issues still lingering, he can be effective with that enormous stuff ceiling.
So whatever explanation fits best, the fact is Roki started the second half with the best start of his career. It serves as the most glaring example of the promise he has, and why no matter how badly he struggles at times, he will and should get a lot of chances to figure it out.
