While starting pitching injuries are nothing the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t used to, the latest blow to their rotation feels particularly damaging.
In yet another disappointing development in Roki Sasaki’s highly anticipated rookie season, the Dodgers placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement last week. The move came amid mounting concerns over the recent dip in Sasaki’s fastball velocity, from triple digits all the way down to the low-90s.
“Scouts who watched Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki in Japan were convinced that he was hurt after watching him pitch this season and their suspicions were verified when Sasaki was placed on the IL with a shoulder impingement,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale wrote in a recent column for USA TODAY. “Sasaki, who was recruited by virtually every team in baseball, has a 4.72 ERA with just 24 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings through his first eight big-league starts.”
The Dodgers emerged victorious in the hotly contested Sasaki sweepstakes this past winter, but it may have come at a cost. If Sasaki’s injury is serious enough to become a chronic problem – and it could be trending that way – perhaps the flame-throwing phenom may not turn out to be the long-term future ace the Dodgers initially thought he was.
Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki risk was worth taking, but could it be long term?
Even with fellow Dodgers starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow also on the injured list, there is an additional level of concern that accompanies Sasaki’s injury.
“I think they should be at least somewhat worried, especially since this is a shoulder issue he was dealing with last year, too,” The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya said on a recent episode of the “Foul Territory” podcast. “Is this a chronic thing? Is this something that can be corrected? Is this something that the way he throws is going to lead them to shoulder issues and the velocity is not going to get back to where he is.”
The Dodgers obviously knew about Sasaki’s shoulder issue last year, but that didn’t impact their pursuit of him since signing him was a long-term play. But shoulder injuries can also be long term. Sasaki did mention the shoulder injury he dealt with in 2024 was “worse” and he was still able to recover and pitch, but the fact that new complications are surfacing can’t be a good sign.
Of course, this isn’t to say that the Dodgers shouldn’t have signed Sasaki in the first place. At a $760,000 salary and a $6.5 million signing bonus, Los Angeles got the 23-year-old at a fraction of his perceived worth thanks to MLB’s international signing rules. But now, it’s looking like a real possibility that the Sasaki mania that has consumed the baseball world for the past year-plus may end up being short-lived … or at least very delayed.
