{"id":297831,"date":"2026-05-03T11:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/297831\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T11:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:23:19","slug":"roki-sasaki-shines-but-dodgers-suffer-fourth-straight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/297831\/","title":{"rendered":"Roki Sasaki shines, but Dodgers suffer fourth straight loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ST. LOUIS\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers<\/a> right-hander Roki Sasaki\u2019s<\/a> new splitter may prove to be the key as he makes his case to remain in the major-league rotation once lefty Blake Snell returns from injury.<\/p>\n

After debuting the pitch last week, Sasaki mixed it in with the slower version he\u2019s more traditionally thrown during the Dodgers\u2019 3-2 loss to the Cardinals<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always have game plans going into games,\u201d Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior told The Times before the game. \u201cSometimes those get thrown out in the first batter, sometimes you execute those perfectly, and things are great. So you just obviously read and react, you listen to the catcher, listen to the pitcher, and kind of what we\u2019re seeing and what the offensive approach is, and make determinations. But they\u2019re both still in play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasaki\u2019s had two of his best starts of the season the past two weeks, after introducing a version of his splitter that\u2019s about 6 mph harder, playing off his fastball. And though the Dodgers\u2019 continued offensive struggles sunk them Saturday, extending their losing streak to four games, Sasaki authored his first quality start of the year.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 Max Muncy runs for an RBI single during the ninth inning against the Cardinals on Saturday in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

(Scott Kane \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In a matter of weeks, the Dodgers will have to decide how to clear a spot in the rotation for Snell\u2019s return. The southpaw is scheduled to make his third minor-league rehab start on Sunday for triple-A Oklahoma City. Snell will likely need at least a fourth before returning, manager Dave Roberts said earlier this series.<\/p>\n

Sasaki is one of three young pitchers at the back end of the rotation, along with right-hander Emmet Sheehan<\/a> and left-hander Justin Wrobleski<\/a>, who will be competing for two spots once Snell returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what the situation is, I just focus on what I can do,\u201d Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. \u201cSo just making sure I\u2019m doing [my] best performance ever, and also I go with whatever the team decides after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a post-start debrief a couple weeks ago, Sasaki mentioned that he\u2019d like to try to see if he could throw his forkball harder, Prior said, similar to what he\u2019d done in 2022 in Japan and somewhat in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He thought his delivery was in a good enough spot to pull it off.<\/p>\n

According to multiple scouts who watched Sasaki pitch in Japan, Sasaki did indeed throw his signature forkball harder than the roughly 85 mph it averaged in his first MLB season, and 86 to begin this year.<\/p>\n

The difference could be attributed to a variety of factors, including natural migration of grips or the difference between the baseball used in Nippon Professional Baseball versus MLB. Sasaki\u2019s fastball velocity also dipped in his final season in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always supportive of crisper, harder, however you want to define it, assuming that it maintained his throw and maintained everything else,\u201d Prior said of the new splitter.<\/p>\n

Assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness showed Sasaki a grip adjustment that he thought would achieve the desired result.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki throws from the mound during the sixth inning of his team\u2019s loss to the Cardinals Saturday in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

(Jeff Le \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cLo and behold, the first one was really good,\u201d Prior said. \u201cThe second one was really nasty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasaki took the new splitter into his start last week against the Cubs, with promising results.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, he used both versions, with the ability to default to the original when, at times, the crisper split didn\u2019t have the shape he was looking for.<\/p>\n

Sasaki not only recorded an out in the sixth inning for the first season, but finished the inning to tie the deepest start of his MLB career, as he limited the Cardinals to three runs and five hits.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing. Sasaki labored early. Despite issuing two walks and hitting a batter in the first two innings, he escaped both unscathed.<\/p>\n

No such luck in the third. Sasaki gave up back-to-back doubles to Iv\u00e1n Herrera and Alec Burleson, and a home run to Jordan Walker \u2014 who\u2019s been swinging the hottest bat of any hitter this series \u2014 for a quick three runs.<\/p>\n

Sasaki rebounded to throw three perfect innings to finish his outing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that there was a lot of growth,\u201d Roberts<\/a> said after the game. \u201cEach of his last handful of starts, he\u2019s gotten better. But there\u2019s some finishing school that needs to happen, where you\u2019ve got to get the guys out that you need to get out and try to face less hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 offense, however, didn\u2019t score until the ninth inning. Kyle Tucker<\/a> and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> hit back-to-back infield singles, testing Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn\u2019s range to both sides.<\/p>\n

Then Max Muncy<\/a> shot an RBI single over the head of second baseman JJ Wetherholt. And Andy Pages<\/a> drove in another run with a ground ball just past the glove of diving third baseman Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas. Their late rally stalled there.<\/p>\n

The star-studded Dodgers lineup hasn\u2019t scored more than two runs in a game since Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we didn\u2019t score enough to win a ball game,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cOn the pitching side, I think we just continued to get good pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki\u2019s new splitter may prove to be the key as he makes his case…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[126243,126244,47802,426,2424,423,4468,48,52,51,47,50,49,4256,5884,13434,2668,24126,4467,30246,776],"class_list":["post-297831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-back-end","tag-back-to-back-infield-single","tag-cardinals","tag-dodgers","tag-friday","tag-game","tag-inning","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-pitcher","tag-roki-sasaki","tag-rotation","tag-run","tag-sasaki","tag-snell","tag-streak","tag-sunday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}