Roki Sasaki was so close to turning Dodgers narrative around, but then imploded

For about five innings Monday night, Roki Sasaki looked like he was finally about to give the Los Angeles Dodgers — and maybe himself — a much-needed breakthrough.

That alone would’ve been enough to shift the conversation surrounding the 24-year-old right-hander, whose sophomore MLB season has been defined less by flashes of brilliance and more by mounting questions about durability and command. And for a while against the San Francisco Giants, Sasaki looked ready to quiet at least some of the noise.

After surrendering a solo homer to Rafael Devers in the second inning, Sasaki settled down impressively. His splitter had bite. The fastball had life. He looked composed. Then came the sixth inning — and with it, the return of every concern surrounding him.

Manager Dave Roberts probably let Sasaki face one hitter too many. At 90 pitches already — an important number considering Sasaki’s inconsistent workload this year — the Dodgers tried squeezing one more out from him.

Pitch No. 91 changed the entire narrative. A double turned a manageable outing into another frustrating line score. Two inherited runners crossed. Sasaki exited without recording an out in the inning, and suddenly what could’ve been viewed as his cleanest, steadiest start of the season instead became another example of why nobody quite knows what to make of him right now.

That’s the cruel reality of where Sasaki currently sits. The raw stuff still screams ace. Five strikeouts over five innings against San Francisco isn’t disastrous at all. In fact, there were stretches where he genuinely looked like he was building momentum after some rocky earlier outings.

Still, the overall results continue telling a different story: a 5.88 ERA, a 1.63 WHIP and more walks than the Dodgers can comfortably live with from a supposed frontline arm. Sasaki has recorded just one outing all season reaching six innings and has now posted five starts allowing at least three earned runs.

That’s not ace production. Right now, it’s barely mid-rotation stability.

Roki Sasaki still unable to turn the corner with Dodgers in frustrating loss to San Francisco

What makes this especially concerning for Los Angeles is that Sasaki doesn’t look overwhelmed physically as much as he looks unable to finish outings once adversity hits. That inability to land the plane has become the defining issue of his season.

And the timing couldn’t be worse for the Dodgers. The offense suddenly looks alarmingly mortal, with Shohei Ohtani mired in an uncharacteristic slump and the lineup increasingly dependent on isolated bursts from players like Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández. The bullpen, usually a strength, completely imploded after Sasaki exited, with Alex Vesia and newcomer Wyatt Mills helping turn a tight game into an ugly one.

Sasaki was supposed to help stabilize all of that. Instead, he remains trapped in this frustrating middle ground where every outing almost feels encouraging until it suddenly doesn’t.

That may actually be the hardest part for Dodgers fans to process. Sasaki hasn’t been a total disaster. If anything, Monday was evidence that progress exists beneath the surface. The catastrophic innings from earlier this season are becoming less frequent. The confidence appears to be returning incrementally. Yet every time it feels like Sasaki is about to fully turn the corner, something pulls him backward.

Monday night was supposed to become the “finally” start — the outing everyone would point to as the moment Sasaki settled in. Instead, it became another reminder that the Dodgers are still waiting.