The Los Angeles Dodgers are just a day away from kicking off their 2026 regular season as they look to defend their two straight World Series titles. The Dodgers recently wrapped up their spring training slate and are hoping for better luck on the injury front in 2026 than they experienced a year ago.
One of the main concerns coming out of spring training for Los Angeles is the pitching of Roki Sasaki, who largely struggled leading up to the season.
Recently, MLB analyst Rob Friedman attempted to break down what might be going wrong for Sasaki.
“I… think some of it is almost overthinking his mechanics… listening to every interview, every time he struggles, it seems to be, ‘Well, my mechanics were off. I did this wrong, I did that wrong.' Most pitchers don't lose command because of their mechanics. They're losing command because of a focus type thing, or not understanding where their misses tend to me,” said Friedman, per Foul Territory on X, formerly Twitter.
“Sometimes you have to figure out a way to compete through it, and it's not always a mechanical thing,” he added.
The Dodgers will certainly be hoping that Sasaki is able to figure things out and resume his 2025 form sooner rather than later, especially if they are faced with hardships in the injury department this year that they did throughout last season.
When he's at his best, Sasaki remains one of the most talented arms on the Dodgers' staff. As Friedman referenced, the problems at this point seem to be more mental than anything else.
In any case, the Dodgers will officially get their 2026 regular season underway with a home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning on Thursday evening.
