\u201cOur starters are pitching well, so the bar is high,\u201d\u00a0Roberts added. \u201cThis is a good kind of learning process for Roki. Just continue to pound the strike zone, command the baseball, and perform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n If Sasaki wanted pressure, he got it when he signed with the Dodgers in January. Although Sasaki was an accomplished two-time All-Star with the NPB\u2019s Chiba Lotte Marines, none of that necessarily mattered from the second that he committed to joining the reigning World Series champions.<\/p>\n The Dodgers are a title-or-bust team, and anything short of a third championship in six years is considered a failure. There\u2019s no reason, then, for Roberts to trust Sasaki with the ball in the postseason.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, Sasaki is a 23-year-old rookie who can\u2019t hit the strike zone. If not for the hype he arrived stateside with, then keeping him off the playoff roster would be an easy call for both Roberts and Dodgers management,\u00a0regardless\u00a0<\/em>of how talented Sasaki might be.<\/p>\n R\u014dki Sasaki, 98mph Fastball and 87mph Dragon Fork, Individual Pitches + Overlay.\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/2MqTEKXb1e<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja)\u00a0April 5, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Remember, the Dodgers aren\u2019t an inexperienced team breaking through as playoff contenders. These Dodgers are heavy spenders with an injury-prone rotation and a core that, while still productive, has shown cracks this summer.<\/p>\n Shortstop\u00a0Mookie Betts\u00a0is marred in his worst offensive season since 2021, and Clayton Kershaw barely averages five innings per start. Outside of ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it\u2019s hard to feel comfortable believing in any of the Dodgers\u2019 starting pitchers \u2014 and that includes\u00a0Shohei Ohtani, who remains on a limited workload while returning from Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n The Dodgers need as many reliable contributors as possible, and Sasaki isn\u2019t that right now. That doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re writing him off just yet, though his continued control problems certainly raise some major red flags.<\/p>\n If Sasaki wants to change our minds, he can start by dominating his next rehab start. Otherwise, he should plan on spending the postseason sitting on the Dodgers\u2019 bench and mentally preparing to prove us wrong in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Considering their status as the reigning World Series champions, we have to imagine that the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0always envisioned that\u00a0rookie pitcher\u00a0Roki Sasaki would play a major role in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dodgers cannot depend on Roki Sasaki in the playoffs<\/h2>\n
![\"Roki](\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_limit\/MjY6MDAwMDAwMDAwNjg4MzAx\/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers-at-arizona-diamondbacks-688301.jpg\")
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