Dodgers Opinion: Roki Sasaki Has Struggled in Triple-A; Will We See Him Again This Season?

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—When the Los Angeles Dodgers won the bidding for 23-year-old Japanese right-handed phenom Roki Sasaki, it was seen as the steal of the century.

While Los Angeles was the overwhelming favorite due to their large presence not only in Japan, but with Sasaki himself, with the Dodgers employing two of his teammates from the 2023 World Baseball Classic Champions, Samurai Japan, but it was seen as a steal, as any team in baseball could’ve won the bidding for his services.

In many ways, Sasaki was the most hyped pitching prospect in the last fifty years, rivaling right-handers Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steven Strasburg of the Washington Nationals.

However, Sasaki’s debut season couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.

In just eight games this season, Sasaki posted a mediocre 4.72 ERA with a 6.18 FIP, while also seeing his strikeout rate (15.6%) come in below the league average and exhibit inconsistent command and velocity.

Ultimately, Sasaki would end up on the Dodgers’ 15-day injured list before being transferred to the 60-day IL later in the summer, putting the return of the former NPB star this season in doubt.

However, Sasaki would continue to work his way back after taking some extended time off to rest his right shoulder and would restart his throwing program in July, with him and the Dodgers eyeing a possible September return.

Fast-forward to now, and Sasaki has completed three minor league rehab starts, each with mixed results.

Roki Sasaki began his Minor League rehab assignment with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets on Aug. 14 as he looks to potentially return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ active roster before the season ends.

Sasaki struggled in his first game back since May 9, allowing three runs on six hits with no strikeouts and one walk in two innings. The Dodgers were hoping he would complete three innings in the start.

His second outing showed slight improvement, but was still a mixed bag overall. The right-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and issued three walks against two strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work.

Sasaki made his third start for the Comets on Tuesday night and pitched 3.2 innings. He allowed three runs and finished with four strikeouts. The right-hander fared reasonably well through three innings before running into trouble after collecting back-to-back strikeouts in the fourth.

While the velocity topped out at 98.8 mph and averaged 96 mph, of Sasaki’s one hundred fastballs thrown, only three have generated swing and misses.

In the most recent outing, Sasaki was planned to complete four full frames, but the young right-hander was unable to do so. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that Sasaki still has a ways to go after his second rehab start, but noted several positives compared to the first outing.

“I think that he’s not quite there yet, but he’s getting there,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s start. “And again, there’s nothing more confidence-building than performance. So it was good to see his last one.”

Will Sasaki Return this Season?

At the start of Sasaki’s rehab, Dave Roberts insisted that the righty would need at a minimum four minor league rehab starts before any consideration of activation off the injured list or promotion back to the major league club.

Across the three minor league starts mentioned above, Sasaki has posted a 7.00 ERA in nine innings pitched along with a dreadful 2.22 WHIP.

Sasaki has built himself up as a starter during his rehab, as the Dodgers envision him still in this role in the future, but the current starting rotation is full.

Currently, the Dodgers’ rotation is six-man strong, headlined by Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

While there is an odd chance of Sasaki being placed in the Dodgers bullpen, I would bet against that, as Sasaki has never appeared out of the pen in his professional career.

Much of this discussion will center on his fourth rehab start, where, if he shows improved command and can complete four or five innings, the team could give him an opportunity. If not, don’t expect to see Sasaki for the remainder of this season.

In hindsight, Sasaki should’ve started the season out in the minor leagues so the organization could iron out the kinks in his game, rather than feeding him to the wolves as they did in the first two months of the season.

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