Despite recent struggles on the mound, Roki Sasaki will remain a starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

"He's going to start next week. I just don't think we have another alternative," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the media according to SportsNetLA following a 12-7 comeback victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. 

Sasaki pitched in the series opener and faced the Padres for a second consecutive outing. Compared to his poor start on Friday, June 26, inside Petco Park, Thursday night's six-run outburst in just three innings pitched was the cherry on top of a slew of bad starts. 

Still, Sasaki is on the hook to make his next scheduled start, which is expected to fall between the three-game set against the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Looking back at his last four starts, Sasaki has been reverting back to his old, imploding ways. 

In 17 innings pitched, the right-hander has been tagged for 19 earned runs (10.06 ERA) and has given out 11 walks. The lack of command has once again made its return and, paired with the recent dip in velocity, has Roberts and the Dodgers pulling out the whiteboard in hopes of finding a solution. 

"They [Padres] were on everything Roki [Sasaki] threw, you could see it," Roberts told media members. "We're going to do a little dive and I don't know if he was tipping his pitches, but they were on everything." 

It all unraveled fast for Sasaki on the mound against San Diego, but otherwise, he thought his stuff was sufficient. 

"I don't think my stuff was bad today," Sasaki told reporters according to SportsNetLA after his no-decision result. "I threw a pretty good fastball. Command-wise, I felt pretty good about my off-speed pitches as well. A lot of things kind of evolved."

There is a lot to take away from these recent samples of outings, especially considering the complete 360-degree turn Sasaki took from his consistently good outings from mid-May. 

For one, 2026 is the first full season in which the 24-year-old is healthy and a full-time starter. 

Given the Dodgers' lack of starting pitching depth due to injuries (Tyler Glasnow, River Ryan, Blake Snell, Gavin Stone, and Bobby Miller), Los Angeles is left with no other options then to have Sasaki remain in the starting rotation. 

The Dodgers and Roberts are willing to roll with the punches with Sasaki. Even with a 13-game lead in the National League West Division and just nine games until the All-Star break festivities begin, there is plenty of room to grow for Sasaki. 

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