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Roki Sasaki has gotten his fastball velocity back — and with it, the confidence that made him one of the most electric young pitchers on the planet. That’s the central takeaway from a feature by Fabian Ardaya at The New York Times, which details the right-hander’s progression since arriving in Los Angeles and the work that’s gone into restoring the electric stuff that made him a sensation in Japan.

Sasaki’s velocity was a talking point from the moment he signed with the Dodgers. Coming off a lighter workload in his final NPB season and adjusting to a new country, new league, and new organization, there were legitimate questions about whether the triple-digit heat he flashed in Japan would translate immediately. Early in his Dodgers tenure, the fastball sat a tick or two below where most expected. That’s no longer the case. Sasaki has steadily ramped up, and his most recent outing — seven shutout innings against the Angels with a career-high 10 strikeouts — was the clearest evidence yet that the arm is all the way back. The velocity spike hasn’t just been about raw numbers on the gun; it’s changed the way hitters react to his splitter, which plays off the fastball in devastating fashion when the heater is humming.

For Sasaki personally, this matters beyond box scores. He left Japan at 23, turning down the security of staying with the Chiba Lotte Marines to chase a dream in MLB. The adjustment hasn’t always been smooth — new mound dimensions, a different ball, a 162-game grind he’d never experienced before. There were stretches early on where he looked like he was pitching carefully, almost protecting himself. That tentativeness appears to be gone. The confidence Ardaya describes isn’t just about throwing harder; it’s about trusting his stuff, attacking the zone, and pitching like the guy who once threw a perfect game with 19 strikeouts in NPB.

I think this is the version of Sasaki we were all waiting for. The Dodgers built their rotation with the assumption that he’d eventually look like this — a front-of-the-rotation arm who could dominate alongside Shohei Ohtani and (eventually, when healthy) Tyler Glasnow. With Glasnow on the 60-day IL, Sasaki stepping into that top-tier role isn’t just welcome, it’s necessary. The rotation has held up better than most expected this season, but having Sasaki pitch with this kind of conviction changes the ceiling of the entire pitching staff.

What’s especially encouraging is the trajectory. Sasaki isn’t just having one good start — he’s trending upward in a way that suggests the velocity and confidence are sustainable, not a one-night spike. The Dodgers’ player development and pitching infrastructure deserve credit here. They managed his workload carefully, didn’t rush him, and let the stuff come back naturally. That patience is paying off now. If Sasaki keeps pitching like this through the summer, the conversation shifts from “solid mid-rotation arm” to “legitimate ace.” And for a team with October aspirations, that’s exactly the kind of internal upgrade that can change a season.

Source(s): Fabian Ardaya (The New York Times) | First reported: June 7, 2026 3:04 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers