Guardians could catch early 2026 break as Dodgers' rotation issues take center stage

The Cleveland Guardians won’t get any time to ease into the 2026 season thanks to a season-opening road trip with series against the Mariners and Dodgers. 

While April doesn’t determine whether a team is going to make the postseason, a rough start can put a team in a hole that’s incredibly tough to crawl out of (see last year’s Atlanta Braves). 

But the Guardians appear to have caught a much-needed break when it comes to their series against the Dodgers thanks to starter Roki Sasaki’s recent struggles. 

Sasaki took the ball for the Dodgers on Monday in Los Angeles’ penultimate spring training game and had a disastrous start where he allowed five earned runs and six walks over two innings of work. He only managed to throw 32 of his 66 pitches for strikeouts. 

He left the Dodgers’ game against the Angels midway through the first inning after giving up three straight walks and not recording an out. He returned again in the second inning (pitchers are allowed to re-enter games during spring training) and was removed after allowing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. 

Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was adamant after the game that Sasaki will take the mound for Los Angeles in their series opener against the Guardians next Monday, it’s clear that the 24-year-old starter isn’t in the best place mentally ahead of the start. 

The Guardians won’t be seeing Roki Sasaki at his best in series against Dodgers 

Sasaki finished the spring with an unsightly 15.58 ERA in 8 2/3 innings, which has led to some calls that the young starter should begin the season in the minors as opposed to on Los Angeles’ big league rotation.

The Dodgers signed Sasaki last offseason in the hopes that he could be the next great starter in their vaunted rotation. Instead he only made eight shaky starts for the Dodgers before going on the injured list with right shoulder impingement. 

He ended up returning at the end of the season and pitched well out of the bullpen, but Dodgers brass made the decision to move him back to the starting rotation this season. And it hasn’t gone well so far. 

Part of the reason for that decision is because of the lack of depth in that rotation, as Blake Snell and Gavin Stone are going to start the season on the injured list while fellow starter River Ryan is working his way back from Tommy John. 

After the start, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported the Dodgers are planning on having long reliever Justin Wrobleski available in the bullpen to soak up some innings behind Sasaki, but it’s clear the Guardians are going to get a chance to face off against the defending champions when they’re not going to be at their best. 

The Guardians need to take advantage. 

The good news for Cleveland is that they have a lineup led by pesky hitters like Steven Kwan and José Ramírez who can both frustrate pitchers by fouling off a lot of pitches. That’s the kind of approach the Guardians are going to need to take against a clearly wounded Sasaki. 

It may only be one game in March, but it’s the kind of game that could set the tone for the rest of the season, espically since they're going to go against Shohei Ohtani the next night.