Straight Talk: Sasaki aims for deeper outing after laboring in loss to Texas

Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the game against the Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium on April 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

(Ric Tapia - The Sporting Tribune)

"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Lakers star Rui Hachimura and LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.

The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help.

John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki (0-2) meets with the media after struggling through four innings of a 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers at home on Sunday. Sasaki allowed a pair of runs on five hits and five walks with six strikeouts on 94 pitches to see his ERA go to 6.23.

Q: Roki, when you have an outing like today in which you were able to get six strikeouts, of course unfortunately, you have the five walks, how do you just kind of assess when there are positives, it seems like there’s a strop forward, but also then the pitch count gets up and of course just the lack of command in some situations there?

Sasaki: The thing that bothers me the most is that I threw so many pitches and couldn’t build up a lot of innings. It was positive that was able to hang in there and pitch out of trouble in the first and second innings with runners in scoring position. And it was also nice to be able to get those strikeouts.

Q: Seeing the swing and miss, how much was that a step forward for you with how you feel mechanically?

Sasaki: As far as the strikeouts go, I think they basically came because the movement on my forkball was good, that’s all.

Q: What do you think made the forkball better for you today? Was it the command, the movement, what was better about it?

Sasaki: I think it was that I was able to get it over a lot of the time today and the height was good on it.

Q: If kind of finding a way, even when you weren’t feeling the best, was the first step for you this season, what is the next step?

Sasaki: Well, this is my third outing and I’ve gone four innings, five innings, four innings – I’ve not been able to eat up a lot of innings. So the next start, I want to not be as much of a burden on the bullpen by keeping the runs down and going deep into the game. That would be the goal for me as far as the result goes.

Q: Do you feel like you’ve made progress overall this season, in terms of trying to take a step forward?

Sasaki: I still have a lot of areas I need to make adjustments in, but when I look at things over the long haul, such as the number of pitches I’m throwing (now), and how I reduce that and the walks, the cause is probably the same for both. Once I come up with the fundamental reason for that and make the adjustments, it’ll still be necessary for me to continue to be able to work on my form and pitch in the zone with a good fastball.

Q: Roki, with the mental side of things being as important as the physical side of things, how do you think you’ve grown with that aspect in your second season with the Dodgers?

Sasaki: More than last year, I have this sense that I’m getting used to things a lot and I feel calmer than last year. Also, when things aren’t going well, I’m able take what I need (from everyone) and I think make the adjustments I need to make for the next time.