Dodgers News: After Weeks of Delay, the Dodgers Have Finally Transferred Sasaki to the 60-day IL
The earliest activation date for Sasaki is now July 9th, but don't expect to see the right-hander anytime soon
LOS ANGELES, CA— Earlier today, in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Zach Penrod, the Los Angeles Dodgers transferred 23-year-old Japanese rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki to the 60-day injured list.
Sasaki is the latest Dodgers starting pitcher to transfer to the 60-day injured list, joining lefty Blake Snell (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow (shoulder), and most recently, right-hander Tony Gonsolin, who has been sidelined by elbow inflammation.
Initially, not much was known about Sasaki’s injury other than it being shoulder-related and that the right-hander would shut down from throwing for the foreseeable future.
Despite being on the 15-day injured list since May 10th, Sasaki, before today, had not begun throwing for reasons that were unclear to the Dodgers brass, or what the team did not want to make clear to the public.
“He’s just not feeling that he can kind of ramp it up,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said last Sunday. “So I gather that we’re trying to hold the baseball a little bit until he feels like we can get going again.”
However, what makes the case even more confusing for general audiences is that it seems the delay is more of a mental and mechanical barrier than a health one, according to Roberts.
“Right now, it’s kind of a comfort thing for him and a confidence thing,” Roberts said. “I don’t think it’s pain. It’s tightness. It could be just not feeling strong.”
The mental issues are expected for Sasaki, who is joining a Dodgers team that many considered the “easy route” despite the gig coming with lofty expectations.
Overall, Sasaki is 1-1 in eight starts this season in 34.1 innings pitched, a 1.49 WHIP, 6.11 xERA, 6.17 FIP, 5.62 xFIP, 6.2 K/9, 5.77 BB/9, 1.57 HR/9, and an alarming twenty-four strikeouts to twenty-two walks.
His single plus fastball has been under league average this season, and when it’s hit, it’s gotten hit hard steadily. His velocity had been steadily declining after he started throwing triple digits in Tokyo, Japan, and he was struggling to hit 94 mph in his last start.
It is not surprising that Sasaki was transferred to the 60-day injured list, as the earliest activation date for the right-hander is now July 9th, just a few days before the 2025 All-Star break.
Just last week, Roberts indicated that it was fair to start planning for life without Sasaki for the remainder of the season, given the multiple obstacles in the way of his return.
However, on the same day Sasaki was transferred to the 60-day injured list, it was reported by Dave Roberts that Sasaki had begun his throwing program again, stretching it out to 60-90 feet.
Roberts continued stating that Sasaki is now “pain-free,” and it’s now about building him back up as a starter—a massive turnaround from where the updates were a few weeks ago.
Hopefully, everything continues to trend in the right direction for Sasaki and the Dodgers pitching staff, as the last two weeks have been filled with multiple game-changing updates.
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