The major change Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki made amid early-season slump

The Los Angeles Dodgers recently improved to 18-9 on the young 2026 MLB season with a blowout home win over the Chicago Cubs by a score of 12-4. The Dodgers sit just a half-game behind the San Diego Padres for first place in the NL West, and are looking poised to once again defend their World Series title.

On the mound for the Dodgers in this game was Roki Sasaki, who had a rough spring training and opening stint of the season this year. Sasaki played decently on Saturday, pitching five innings, recording five strikeouts, and allowing four earned runs in the win.

Recently, Katie Woo of The Athletic detailed a change that Sasaki has made in order to help him overcome his slump.

“In between starts, Roki Sasaki had an idea. He approached pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness and said he wanted to throw his splitter harder, similar to how he did in the 2023 WBC. McGuiness tinkered the grip and Sasaki let it rip,” reported Woo on X, formerly Twitter.

Dodgers fans will likely be happy with any strategy that helps Saski return to the form that had him looking like one of the best young pitching stars in all of baseball last season.

Sasaki will need to step up and be the best version of himself, particularly if the Dodgers are hit hard by the injury bug in the pitching department, as they were a year ago, when their depth in that area was tested significantly.

Still, for the most talented team in baseball by a wide margin, it’s not exactly a pressing issue.

The Dodgers are slated to close out their series against the Cubs on Sunday afternoon at home.

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