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The Dodgers believe Roki Sasaki has made meaningful strides in his first half with the club, even if the box scores haven’t always reflected it. Per Jack Harris at the New York Post, the organization views Sasaki’s development as “a grade and a half better” compared to where he started, a notable endorsement given how bumpy the ride has looked at times from the outside.

Sasaki’s 2026 season has been, to put it plainly, a rollercoaster. The 24-year-old right-hander arrived in Los Angeles as one of the most hyped international signings in recent memory, having dominated in Japan’s NPB with a triple-digit fastball and a splitter that borders on unfair. But transitioning to MLB — adjusting to new hitters, a different ball, a different strike zone, a six-man rotation versus the grind of a 162-game schedule — was never going to be seamless. We’ve seen starts where Sasaki looks like the generational arm we were promised, and others where the command wavers and innings get away from him. That’s the reality of a young pitcher finding his footing in the majors.

What matters more than the snapshot stats is the trajectory, and the Dodgers clearly like what they’re seeing in that regard. The organization has already acknowledged working with Sasaki on pitch-tipping issues (a story we covered earlier this week), and the fact that they’ve been proactive about identifying and correcting mechanical tells speaks to how invested they are in his long-term development. Sasaki isn’t a reclamation project — he’s a front-of-the-rotation talent who needs reps and refinement at this level. The Dodgers have been through this before with elite young arms, and their pitching development infrastructure is arguably the best in baseball.

The “grade and a half better” comment is the kind of internal assessment that carries weight. It suggests the Dodgers are tracking improvements that go beyond ERA and WHIP — things like pitch sequencing, adjustments within at-bats, how he handles adversity in a start, and his comfort level on the mound. Those are the building blocks that eventually produce consistent results. I think that framing matters, especially as we head into the second half and the conversation inevitably turns to how much the Dodgers can lean on Sasaki down the stretch and into October.

For the Dodgers, this is about the bigger picture. With Walker Buehler anchoring the rotation, Yoshinobu Yamamoto established as a frontline starter, and the club exploring trade deadline additions to bolster rotation depth (Skubal rumors, the Lauer exploration), Sasaki doesn’t need to carry the staff right now. He needs to keep trending in the right direction. If the Dodgers are right that his growth has been as significant as they suggest, the second half — and more importantly, October — could be where we start seeing the version of Sasaki that made him one of the most coveted arms on the planet. The patience is deliberate, and so far, the organization sounds encouraged by the return on that patience.

Source(s): Jack Harris (New York Post) | First reported: July 10, 2026 10:35 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers