Dave Roberts' comments on Roki Sasaki show Dodgers might be living in fantasy land

The Dodgers' higher-ups are probably pretty sick of repeating themselves at this point, but Dave Roberts said it again earlier this week: Roki Sasaki will start the season in the Dodgers' rotation.

Andrew Friedman said it right after LA won the World Series, he, Roberts, and GM Brandon Gomes have all said it throughout the offseason, but it's borne repeating throughout spring training given Sasaki's struggles. It's never been in question, but Dodgers fans and writers have felt compelled to keep checking in because ... are we sure?

Sasaki's first outing went badly, and then his second went very, very badly before he made some adjustments, after which point it went pretty well. Fans are mostly ringing alarm bells, while Dodgers writers are torn on how concerned we should actually be about him.

He threw a "B-game" on the back fields at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday against White Sox minor leaguers. It yielded good results: four innings pitched, only two baserunners allowed via a single and a hit by pitch, and seven strikeouts.

Roberts, who wasn't in attendance for the start, said he heard it was "electric."

There were real signs of improvement that could translate well against major league hitters, but despite team officials' reassurances and Katie Woo's insistence ... we're going to remain skeptical.

Roki Sasaki's 'electric' outing against White Sox minor leaguers still isn't enough to convince Dodgers fans

Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Sasaki's fastball command improved. He threw 40 strikes in 59 pitches and got 17 swings-and-misses. Roberts said his fastball was getting up to 98 and 100.

All good things, sure. But these were minor league hitters, so the Dodgers will have to forgive us if we don't find the outing as "electric" as they did.

Fans have had a question that's even predated Sasaki's major league debut last season, but that the Dodgers still won't answer. What's the harm in starting him in Triple-A?

If we had to guess, we'd probably say the answer is hubris. The Dodgers won Sasaki in a sweepstakes that included over half of the league. They added him to their mantelpiece as a key victory from the 2024-25 offseason. To send him down would be to admit some measure of defeat.

But there are pitchers in their system that have proven themselves throughout spring training and might end up in the bullpen or in Triple-A to start the season because the Dodgers are adamant about Sasaki's potential. Sure, the regular season doesn't matter much to them, and they don't care if they get shelled every five days (maybe even six or seven) if they win otherwise, but why are guys like River Ryan (demonstrably better in camp so far) scrounging for scraps while Sasaki gets a guaranteed spot?

Again, it's hubris.

We all want to see Sasaki succeed, so hopefully we'll have to eat our words after a couple of his in-season starts. But for now, we're not convinced.