Overview
- After allowing a first-inning grand slam to Kyle Manzardo on March 3, Sasaki reentered and retired six straight, leaving him with seven runs in 3 1/3 spring innings and persistent first-inning woes.
- Dave Roberts reiterated the club still views Sasaki as a starter and intends to give him every opportunity to hold a rotation spot as camp breaks.
- With Blake Snell not expected to be ready for Opening Day and Gavin Stone pausing throwing, the Dodgers have multiple openings to fill behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow.
- The plan includes a backfields simulated outing in addition to Sasaki’s next Cactus League start to help him reach a four-inning threshold while coaches look for tangible progress.
- Internal candidates remain in play as Emmet Sheehan returned to game action, Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan logged scoreless spring frames, and analysts floated fixes for Sasaki’s command, including a steadier catcher target and refining a cutter/slider.