Roki Sasaki posted a 8.61 ERA over his final five starts before the 2026 All-Star break. The Dodgers’ coaching staff tracked the problem to something deceptively simple: batters were reading his grip before the ball ever left his hand. The fix wasn’t a mechanical overhaul or a new pitch mix. It was a bigger glove.
What Pitch Tipping Is — and Why It Was Killing Sasaki
Pitch tipping happens when a pitcher unintentionally exposes his finger placement on the ball before releasing it. A splitter requires a noticeably different grip than a four-seam fastball, and if hitters or their bench can spot that difference from the batter’s box, they know what’s coming with enough time to do real damage. In MLB, that’s all the edge they need.
For Sasaki, the issue became impossible to ignore on July 2 against the Padres, when he gave up six runs in three innings. Video analysis by the coaching staff pointed straight to the glove — opponents were picking up his splitter grip during his pre-pitch setup. That’s a problem, because the splitter is the pitch that makes Sasaki go.
Pitching coach Mark Prior confirmed the diagnosis. Rather than tear down Sasaki’s mechanics from scratch — a process that takes weeks and disrupts a rotation’s rhythm — the Dodgers went pragmatic: they switched him to a larger yellow Nike glove that better conceals his hand during the grip phase. Simple. Fast. Effective.
The Numbers Before and After
The split is hard to argue with. In his last five starts before the fix, Sasaki had a 8.61 ERA. In three starts since switching gloves, he has a 1.93 ERA across 18.2 innings. Small sample, yes — but the direction is unmistakable.
The signature performance came July 25 against the Mets: seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts, and 21 swings and misses — a new career high in the majors. Ten days earlier against the Yankees, he threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or harder, breaking Bobby Miller’s Statcast-era record of 20 (tracked since 2008).
On the full 2026 season, Sasaki sits at 4-5 with a 4.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 94 strikeouts against 36 walks in 93.2 innings. The overall line still carries the weight of those rough months, but the recent trend is the most encouraging stretch he’s shown since arriving in Los Angeles.
What the Statcast Numbers Say
The underlying data makes clear the arsenal was never the issue — the tipping was:
- Whiff Rate — 79th percentile: When Sasaki is on, hitters miss his pitches at a top-quartile rate across the league.
- Chase Rate — 70th percentile: Batters are chasing out of the zone at an above-average clip, a sign his stuff still plays at an elite level.
- Barrel % — 8th percentile: Hitters almost never make barrel contact against him, which explains why the damage is minimal when he’s right.
- Hard-Hit % — 14th percentile: Less than 15% of contact against Sasaki qualifies as hard-hit.
- Exit Velocity — 17th percentile: The average exit velocity against him ranks among the lowest in the entire league.
- xwOBA — 39th percentile: Expected contact quality is still below average, with room to improve as the mechanics catch up.
A Practical Fix, Not a Permanent One
When asked about the glove change, Sasaki deflected with a joke — he suggested maybe his face just got smaller. His coach told a different story. But what matters most is what’s happening on the mound.
That said, the Dodgers haven’t solved the root cause. The bigger glove hides the grip; it doesn’t eliminate the underlying movement that tips the pitch. If opposing teams invest enough video time studying his arm action or body mechanics, the glove’s advantage could shrink. This is a smart short-term solution, not a permanent one.
For now, though, a franchise that made a major bet on Sasaki in his first MLB season — and needs him functional alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the rotation — will take a 1.93 ERA over three starts in late July without complaint. The problem was real. The fix worked. And the 24-year-old who threw a perfect game in NPB in 2022 looks like himself again.
