Dodgers Manager Provides Huge Update on Roki Sasaki Return Timeline

The Los Angeles Dodgers got a positive update on starting pitcher Roki Sasaki as he nears his return from a shoulder injury.

Sasaki is set to start a rehab assignment on Thursday, throwing three innings in Triple-A.

The Japanese fireballer hasn’t pitched since May 13th due to a shoulder injury.

As a young pitcher who is in his rookie MLB season, the Dodgers are handling Sasaki with care, especially since Los Angeles can afford to take their time and use organizational depth.

Sasaki has been on the 60-day injured list, though he has started ramping up and threw three simulated innings on Friday.

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He threw 45 pitches, and his fastball was around the 96-97 mph range, showing some improvement from where he was before the injury.

“I’m just really relieved that I’m pain-free,” Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton.

“So I’m really taking this time to focus in on the delivery, and that’s something that I’m really excited to do.”

The Dodgers’ starting rotation has gotten healthier overall as several starters have come back over the past month.

Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Emmet Sheehan returned from the injured list recently, giving the team depth and more ability to remain patient.

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Manager Dave Roberts is going to make sure that Sasaki returns at full strength and the team uses its newfound depth to afford the Japanese pitcher some time.

“As a starting pitcher, you’ve got to build up,” Roberts said.

“We want Roki to gain some confidence, some real confidence in taking down 22 hitters, 24 hitters, commanding the baseball.

“I really don’t know what that looks like. But what I do know is that we’ve got to get him back to pitching in games and competing, and then I think that in the coming weeks we’ll know more from there.”

In his first season in the States, Sasaki has a 4.72 ERA through eight total starts, with 22 walks and 24 strikeouts.

His time in the big leagues has shown promising glimpses of a pitcher who has plenty of tools in the arsenal and posses top-self stuff which merits much of the hype that he came over from Japan with.

Also, there were concerns with his pitching, mainly his drop in velocity on his fastball compared to his time in Japan and his underwhelming command, which led to a poor walk-to-strikeout ratio.

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