![\"Roki](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/roki-sasaki-los-angeles-dodgers.jpg\")
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(Photo by Brandon Sloter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a challenging start to spring training for Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> pitcher Roki Sasaki. He\u2019s allowed seven earned runs in his two outings this spring, and concerns over him being a starting pitcher are again emerging. <\/p>\n Last season, Sasaki struggled as a starter in his rookie year. After returning from a right shoulder impingement injury, he found confidence coming out of the bullpen, helping the Dodgers win the World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sasaki had an ERA of 0.84, six strikeouts, and three saves in nine appearances in the 2025 postseason in his rookie season, per StatMuse<\/a>. <\/p>\n Nonetheless, despite the success as the closer last season, Sasaki sees himself as a starter, and so does Los Angeles, but so far, it\u2019s been a bumpy start ahead of the 2026 MLB<\/a> season. Still, MLB Network\u2019s Harold Reynolds isn\u2019t ready to hit the panic button on Sasaki.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not concerned because I think it\u2019s fixable,\u201d Reynolds said on March 4 on MLB Network<\/a>. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fixable the way they did it last year. I think it\u2019s a real simple fix. It\u2019s a matter of the [catcher\u2019s] target. We\u2019re so much into this moving target. <\/p>\n \u201cRemember we had Adam Wainwright on talking about maybe if you were throwing darts and all of a sudden they drop the dartboard. That\u2019s what it looks like for a pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n Is the Catcher\u2019s Target Hurting Roki Sasaki?<\/p>\n The former MLB player also went into detail on how the catcher\u2019s target is affecting Sasaki, leading to these concerning spring training outings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s missing by so much, but he\u2019s trying to be so fine,\u201d Reynolds added. \u201cHe never pitches on the inside half to a lefty or away to a righty. Everything\u2019s outside. His arm\u2019s running. The balls run constantly because he was so caught up in trying to get movement. I want you to look at the catcher\u2019s target from here out, the rest of the way. By the time he\u2019s ready to deliver, the target\u2019s gone. It\u2019s gone. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel like that\u2019s problematic. It\u2019s not smooth. It\u2019s a quick rush. So he rushes. Your eyes are going to move quickly. It doesn\u2019t matter what you do. That\u2019s what happens. And I think that\u2019s a big part of the problem. If you\u2019re sitting there doing anything and the target\u2019s moving fast, you\u2019re going to react to it. I think it\u2019s lost all the fluidity to the delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n Dodgers\u2019 Catcher\u2019s Target Gets Called Out<\/p>\n Moreover, Reynolds shared what needs to be done to help the Dodgers pitcher get back on track, noting that, with the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge now in MLB, the catcher should focus more on setting a target for Sasaki rather than trying to deceive the umpire. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s more important, for him to throw strikes or trick somebody?\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cHim to throw strikes. His stuff is elite. We\u2019ve known stories of pitchers, and he fits in that category for me, who could tell you what\u2019s coming and you\u2019re not going to hit it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Dodgers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Brandon Sloter\/Getty Images) It\u2019s been a challenging start to spring training for Los Angeles Dodgers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-607233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-dodgers","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-dodgers","12":"tag-ladodgers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesdodgers","17":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116175152990897497","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}