How Roki Sasaki’s rise factors into Dodgers’ pursuit of Tarik Skubal

NEW YORK – Roki Sasaki isn’t only pitching better. 

By his own estimation, he’s also more handsome.

Asked about the larger glove he started wearing after the All-Star break to address his problems with pitch-tipping, Sasaki played dumb by describing it as an optical illusion.

“My face became smaller,” he said in Japanese, “so it just looks [bigger].”

In Japan, a kogao, or small face, is considered attractive.

Sasaki joked that he received treatment on his face over the All-Star break.

Which is a good sign for the Dodgers. 

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, July 24, 2026, in New York. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Sasaki reacts as he walks off the field after the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A great sign, actually.

His demeanor makes him particularly easy to read, and he has transformed over the first four months of the season from broken to cautiously optimistic to now self-assured.

The side of Sasaki’s personality that emerged in the wake of his most recent start was the same side that surfaced last October, when he caught lightning in a bottle to become the Dodgers’ closer. Back then, Sasaki joked that he wasn’t bothered by the taunts he received on the road because he didn’t understand enough English to know what opposing fans were screaming at him.

As was the case on that World Series run, Sasaki seems to think he’s figured out something. 

There is risk involved in trusting the judgement of a relatively inexperienced and emotionally volatile pitcher with a 4.71 earned-run average, but Sasaki’s improved form reinforces a case I made in these pages last month: The Dodgers don’t have to acquire Tarik Skubal.

To be clear, they can acquire Skubal.

They can in the unlikely case the trade market for him implodes and the Tigers would let him go at a minimal cost.

But they don’t have to.

Sasaki holding the two New York teams to a single earned run over a combined 12 ⅔ innings in his two most recent starts doesn’t qualify him to be a substitute for Skubal.

Except the Dodgers don’t need Sasaki to be that. By the start of the postseason, they are expecting to have Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow back in the rotation along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal reacts to the final out against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, July 24, 2026, in Detroit. AP Photo/Paul Sancya

What they need is insurance – and in Sasaki and Justin Wrobleski, the Dodgers have premium policies. 

If one of the Big Four can’t pitch in October, maybe Sasaki or Wrobleski steps in and starts. Or maybe they combine to take down the majority of innings in a bullpen game.

Either way, they provide the Dodgers with adequate cover – enough to where the team shouldn’t feel as if it has to trade its most prized prospects for Skubal.

A 26-year-old left-hander, Wrobleski is an All-Star with an 11-2 record and 2.62 ERA. Wrobleski has struck out 27 batters in 20 ⅓ innings over his last three starts, addressing concerns about his inability to miss bats. 

Sasaki has also started addressing his shortcomings – in particular, his control problems.

Sasaki’s fastball was down a smidge from his previous start in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the Mets on Friday night, but it didn’t matter.

The only run he allowed was on a high fastball in the second inning to Luis Robert Jr., who banged it over the left-field wall. He pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and two walks.

“Outside of that,” manager Dave Roberts said, “I thought (innings) four through seven, that split was really unhittable.”

Sasaki pitched. He really pitched.

He averaged 98.6 mph with his fastball, but he threw it only 32% of the time. He threw it less frequently in only one of his previous 13 starts.

In his first time through the order, he controlled the Mets with his slider. He then let his splitter take over.

The splitter was thrown at a similar trajectory as his fastball – only for it to bottom out as it approached the plate. His new glove, or smaller face, presumably kept the Mets from figuring out beforehand what pitch he was about to throw. 

Sasaki struck out nine batters and generated 21 swings-and-misses, his most-ever in the majors leagues. He was efficient, throwing only 94 pitches.

“My splitter has been good lately, and it’s one of the reasons I’m able to throw comfortably throughout the game,” Sasaki said. “Of course, there are days in which the pitches feel different coming off my finger tips. But fundamentally, if my delivery is right, I think the forkball becomes easier to throw.”

And from the perspective of the Dodgers, this development makes it easier for them to dream.

About the pitcher Sasaki could become.

About how trading for Skubal would be more of a luxury than a necessity.

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