Roki Sasaki, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, spoke at a team press conference on July 3, 2026, following his start against the San Diego Padres, saying he felt the opposing batters appeared to know which pitch was coming.
"Even when I threw to good spots, the reaction was off — I couldn't get swings and misses," Sasaki said during the press conference. He added that pitches taken for called strikes and balls fouled off with ease were particularly unsettling, and that he sensed the Padres may have had advance knowledge of his pitch selection.
Sasaki noted that his overall ball quality in this start was better than his previous outing against the Padres, yet he still surrendered hard contact. He stated that his fastball was not in bad shape and that his breaking balls were more controlled than in the prior start, and that the early innings did not feel particularly bad with acceptable velocity. Despite those positives, he acknowledged that mediocre breaking balls simply will not work against major league hitters.
Sasaki explained that keeping batters uncertain about pitch selection is just as much a part of pitching as executing quality pitches. "Making the opponent unable to know what's coming — that's also part of the pitcher's job," he stated. When asked whether strong pitch quality alone would be enough to prevent hits even if his tendencies were known, he flatly rejected the idea, saying, "No, that's not how it is."
This was Sasaki's second consecutive start against the Padres, with the previous outing also resulting in him being hit hard. He mentioned that in the earlier start he had struggled with counts and allowed hits after falling behind batters, whereas on July 3, 2026, he was more aggressive throwing strikes. He also mentioned that he has a general idea of what tendency the Padres may have picked up on. Sasaki said he plans to thoroughly investigate every possible contributing factor — including pitch tipping and pitch quality — and clearly identify all causes before applying those lessons to his next start.