Roki Sasaki's best MLB start yet comes with big caveat Dodgers shouldn't ignore

On Sunday, Roki Sasaki pitched the best start of his major league career so far. He went seven innings — his longest to date — and gave up just one earned run while striking out eight and walking zero. That last part is undeniably the most important. Sasaki's command has been sometimes completely missing this year, and he matched an MLB career high five free passes allowed in a single game on April 12 against the Rangers.

Sasaki, Dalton Rushing, who called the game, and Dave Roberts were all, unsurprisingly, pleased by the outcome. Sasaki and Rushing liked that he was able to attack the strike zone, and Roberts praised his pitcher's growing confidence and openness this season.

It was a great start, one that should only help with that confidence and which gave fans their first real preview at what Sasaki might be capable of when he's less of the unfinished product the Dodgers have always viewed him as.

But before we get too carried away, we should remember ... he was facing the Angels.

Anaheim is last in the AL West and has the worst run differential in baseball. They're 28th in team batting average, 24th in OPS, and first in strikeouts.

Roki Sasaki beating up on the Angels is a good sign, but it's impossible for Dodgers to read too much into it

There's nothing wrong with Sasaki punching down to get a little boost of confidence, and we don't want to detract from all of the improvements we saw — his command getting better had nothing to do with the opponent he faced — but it does make sense that Roberts' reaction was a little muted.

The Dodgers won't take a great start against one of the worst teams in baseball as gospel. Sasaki still pitched poorly against the one real contender he's faced so far this season (the Cubs) and has been hit around a bit by some inferior offenses (the Nationals, Giants, and Rockies).

The best we can hope for right now is that this will be a turning point. He might still have some shaking outings as the season progresses, but the Dodgers have been hanging onto incremental improvements as it is this year, and given the state of Angels hitters this season, this start may not be seen as much more than that.

But it's undeniably a good sign, and Sasaki only has up to go from here.

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