Roki Sasaki's alleged pitch-tipping in Dodgers-Rangers finale distracts from the bigger problem

After the Dodgers' 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday, eagle-eyed fans spotted something interesting upon review of starter Roki Sasaki's first inning. Brandon Nimmo picked up a leadoff single to start the game, then moved to second on an Evan Carter walk. When Corey Seager came up to the plate, Nimmo started to hop at second ahead of Sasaki's first offering.

He hopped before Sasaki unleashed a breaking pitch, stayed still before he threw a fastball. It isn't hard to figure out what the fidgeting was about: Sasaki was tipping pitches.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic noted that Nimmo was targeting Sasaki's splitters, and this was the only time during the outing a Rangers batter was obviously signaling.

Okay, tipping pitches isn't great, but Seager, Jake Burger, and Joc Pederson all struck out with Nimmo signaling from second anyway. Pederson went down on one of those splitters.

Baseball media sometimes likes to use tipping as a "gotcha" moment, but in this case, it's all but irrelevant. All three batters Sasaki faced even with batters getting some clues struck out. It didn't happen again, and he still struggled heavily through the four innings he managed to complete.

Roki Sasaki was probably tipping pitches, but Dodgers have bigger concerns with him

The Dodgers should probably work on whatever was giving away his splitter in that first inning, but it's should be at the bottom of their priority list. The real problem with Sasaki has been and continues to be his command.

Including the walk he gave up to Carter, he doled out five free passes on the day. He needed 32 pitches to get out of the third inning alone, and was up to 94 — only 39 of which were strikes — by the time he was taken out after the fourth.

The Dodgers still seem to be in la la land when it comes to Sasaki. Dylan Hernandez put it simply: he's too good for the minors, not good enough for the majors. Dave Roberts said after the game that if he do more of what he did against White Sox minor leaguers in a backfield "B" game during spring training, he'd be in great shape.

But major league hitters are not minor league hitters, and vice versa, for a reason. Sasaki's stuff might play against younger guys from a mid-tier farm system, but against one of the best teams in the AL right now? No way.

The Dodgers continued to find ways to sugarcoat. Roberts was happy he limited damage and, to be fair, the Dodgers played some all-around sloppy baseball on Sunday. Sasaki will continue to be a conundrum and fans will continue to be unhappy, but the Dodgers are sticking to their guns here.

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