Friday night marked another stepping stone for Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki. Sasaki had a breakthrough in his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend, where he touched 100 mph on two pitches. The right-hander used his fastball as his primary weapon, something he hasn't done regularly since his arrival to stateside baseball. Sasaki continued to trend in the right direction Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels, where he tossed seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. "This is the guy that we saw on video in Japan, and that we hoped to get," manager Dave Roberts said after the game.It was the best major league performance of his career, but his foundation for success in the big leagues started while he was on the injured list last season. After eight shaky starts in MLB, Sasaki dealt with a right shoulder impingement and spent months recovering from the injury. In many ways, the time away was a necessary growing pain for the Japanese fireballer. Roberts attributed Sasaki's recent success to strength coach Travis Smith, who has worked with the pitcher since he signed with LA ahead of the 2025 season. It was during Sasaki's time away last year where Smith was able to create a player-specific program for the young arm. “When he first came, he showed us, ‘This is my program, this is what I’ve been doing,’” Smith said to the California Post. “But I think just giving him specifically what he needs and catering it toward him [was the biggest difference]. A lot of strength programs, it’s very cookie-cutter. They’re not getting very specific. So we had the ability to do that. I think that was the biggest thing.” Sasaki returned to the Dodgers in a temporary bullpen role for the postseason and shockingly emerged as the team's closer for October. He sported a 0.84 ERA with three saves in the playoffs, a direct product of Smith's tailored strength program for Sasaki. While the right-hander is sporting an ERA of 4.03 this season, Sasaki's last two starts have displayed inklings of the nearly 20 pounds of muscle he's put on. “He has spent a ton of time with Travis, just rebuilding his body and his strength component,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “You’re seeing some of that stuff really starting to pay off.” Sasaki arrived to LA weighing in at 187 pounds. Now, he sits at around 205. “He doesn’t need to search for velocity or chase velocity,” Roberts said. “So he’s in a really good spot.” The right-hander had completed just six innings twice this year before his solid start against the Angels on Friday night. In a time where the Dodgers are missing two staple starters in Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, Sasaki's success has become paramount for LA. Smith's work behind the scenes with Sasaki appears to have helped the right-hander's velocity and overall confidence on the mound as he continues to establish his identity in MLB. Over his last four starts, Sasaki has a 1.48 ERA across 24.1 innings of work.Roki Sasaki over his last four starts:24.1 IP13 H4 ER5 BB29 KThat's a 1.48 ERA.“This is the guy that we saw on video in Japan and that we hoped to get. ... He went through some tough times, some doubts, but he’s gotten to the other side.” - Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. pic.twitter.com/XwI3MzNemf— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) June 6, 2026Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest newsAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow