This year has been far from smooth for the Los Angeles Dodgers as it pertains to their expected pitching staff.
Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, and Roki Sasaki have all gone down with various injuries. Couple that with the preexisting injuries to Shohei Ohtani and the newfound ones to some of the bullpen arms (Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips), and it’s truly astounding that the Dodgers are still atop the NL West.
Dodgers pitcher coach Mark prior recently spoke to reporters, touching upon a handful of the injured pitchers, and Sasaki came up. The young Japanese starlet has begun throwing lightly. Having said that, Sasaki has yet to push beyond the preliminary period of playing catch.
“Not a whole lot to report on Roki,” Prior said. “I think right now we’ve got to get him in a position where he feels confident in his ability to throw the baseball.
“There’s not a lot to report. He’s been throwing, still just light catch and not a lot of work other than light catch right now. … He is pain-free, but hasn’t gotten to the point where he can put enough intensity to push forward in his progression. It’s just a light catch, just exercising in his throw and not necessarily pushing the throw.”
The rotation is being held together with virtual string, chewing gum, and frequent promotions from the minor leagues. As of right now, the grouping of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, and Ben Casparius figures to hold down the fort until others return.
On the year, Sasaki is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched. His last start came on May 9 versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he allowed five earned runs in four innings.
There’s no rush from the Dodgers side of things in getting Sasaki back immediately. He’s one of their most prized young players, and as such the team will do anything and everything to ensure he’s fully healthy before putting him out on the mound again.
