How Roki Sasakis rise factors into Dodgers pursuit of Tarik Skubal

NEW YORK – Roki Sasaki isn’t only pitching better. By his own estimation, he’s also more handsome.Asked about the larger glove he started wearing after the All-Star break to address his problems with pitch-tipping, Sasaki played dumb by describing it as an optical illusion.“My face became smaller,” he said in Japanese, “so it just looks [bigger].”In Japan, a kogao, or small face, is considered attractive.Sasaki joked that he received treatment on his face over the All-Star break.Which is a good sign for the Dodgers. A great sign, actually.His demeanor makes him particularly easy to read, and he has transformed over the first four months of the season from broken to cautiously optimistic to now self-assured.The side of Sasaki’s personality that emerged in the wake of his most recent start was the same side that surfaced last October, when he caught lightning in a bottle to become the Dodgers’ closer.Back then, Sasaki joked that he wasn’t bothered by the taunts he received on the road because he didn’t understand enough English to know what opposing fans were screaming at him.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story As was the case on that World Series run, Sasaki seems to think he’s figured out something. There is risk involved in trusting the judgement of a relatively inexperienced and emotionally volatile pitcher with a 4.71 earned-run average, but Sasaki’s improved form reinforces a case I made in these pages last month: The Dodgers don’t have to acquire Tarik Skubal.To be clear, they can acquire Skubal.They can in the unlikely case the trade market for him implodes and the Tigers would let him go at a minimal cost.But they don’t have to.Sasaki holding the two New York teams to a single earned run over a combined 12 �...