The Dodgers announced they’ve placed Roki Sasaki on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder impingement. Reliever J.P. Feyereisen was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the vacated roster spot.
Manager Dave Roberts said earlier this evening that Sasaki reported some arm discomfort after his start on Friday. The Diamondbacks tagged him for five runs on as many hits and a pair of walks over four innings. Sasaki didn’t record a single strikeout and only induced four whiffs. He now carries a 4.72 earned run average through his first eight big league starts. He has fanned only 15.6% of opponents while issuing walks at an untenable 14.3% rate.
It’s clearly not the manner in which Sasaki envisioned beginning his major league tenure. Of the 133 pitchers who have logged at least 30 innings, only San Diego’s Randy Vásquez has a worse strikeout/walk rate difference. The 23-year-old Sasaki was dominant over his four seasons in NPB, posting a 2.10 ERA with a near-33% strikeout rate. He remains one of the sport’s most talented young pitchers even though his stateside debut hasn’t gone as planned so far.
Sasaki’s injury history was the only knock against his time in Japan. He never reached 130 innings in an NPB season. He was limited to 18 starts and 111 frames last season. Sasaki missed time with an oblique tear and reportedly battled shoulder fatigue in 2024. The Dodgers haven’t provided a timeline for his return.
Roberts said tonight that Clayton Kershaw will return to the rotation on Saturday. He’ll join Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Landon Knack in the starting five. Sasaki was scheduled to take the ball on Thursday, though the Dodgers could turn to May on four days rest after the team’s off day yesterday. Gonsolin would also be on four days rest for Friday’s start before Kershaw’s activation.
Sasaki needs some time off I don’t think he’s used to the MLB schedule
He was literally asking teams to fix his fastball it’s not the schedule
The fastball hurt his shoulder then?
This may surprise you, but throwing a 98 mph four seamer puts a lot of strain on the human body, including the shoulder.
This is very true. But you remember at the time many people thought it was not real. People thought he was just putting on his show before signing with the dodgers. So did he really need help with this fastball or not?
It’s not time off he needs, its some time in the minor leagues
Everyone says this but if the people that have the most knowledge about the situation feel differently… 🤷♀️
Sasaki is destined for the bullpen. He will be a force is relief. Scott, Yates, Kopech, Sasaki. Thats going to be a really good bullpen.
Sending him to the PCL might screw up his confidence even more. Perhaps he wasn’t ready for MLB. Maybe it’s a combination of his shoulder and between the ears. He’s awfully young to jump to conclusions.
What??? These chat board experts don’t know best?
That’s a bit of an entitled stance though. I would think getting hammered at the MLB level would be worse for your confidence than a reset in the minors. The Red Sox need to do the same thing with Tanner Houck. Whether it bruises his ego or not he’s a disaster on the mound and costing the Sox games. A short stint to work on some mechanical issues where there numbers don’t really matter may not be the worst thing
Red Sox Place Tanner Houck On Injured List With Flexor Pronator Strain.
It was a fine career.
I’m still truely impressed with how this team won it all last year with such attrition in their pitching staff.
And they somehow have the best record so far this year despite just as many injuries (plus missing two key starting position players). Even for them it’s gonna be hard to have long term success this season if this continues but if they hold their spot until guys return they’ll be fine.
3rd best record this season.
Time to re-check the standings….
Time to pull your head out.
underdog: “long term success this season.”
Huh? This season is this season. Long term is multiple seasons.
It helps to have 3 MVPs at the top of the lineup….
Dodgers turning into the 2011 Eagles?
Those eagles had too many old guys which is everything in the NFL and Michael Vick that year lost his arm and his legs at the same time (on top of roster holes despite the spending)
These dodgers have very few holes and lots of consistent star power
Well, aside from the holes caused by the injuries.
No Roki of the year.
Post of the Day!
This feels like a mental health IL stint…
More IL gerrymandering to essentially carry a 45 man roster.
Never any specifics, always sore armitosis.
“More IL gerrymandering..45 man roster”…Exactly. And people called me a “conspiracy nut” when I suggested it was actually the Dodgers who shot J.R and may have in fact kidnapped the Lindberg baby.
And please, don’t even get me started on the JFK conspiracy. I’m glad you noticed that it’s “only” the Dodgers that make numerous roster moves. Without you the Dodgers may have gotten away with this chicanery.
@ iBleeedBlue
He was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement. That’s very specific.
As soon as “shoulder “ comes into the discussion the alarm bells go off. UCLs, forearms, “dead” arms can be dealt with. Shoulders have too many moving parts.
The IL manipulation continues…
CantStop27: Which you can’t prove, so you just sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
The rapid decline in Sasaki’s velocity has been quite real. It points to a serious underlying issue.
Right… The Dodgers are manipulating the IL so they can get 60% of their starting staff on the sidelines. It’s all part of their grand plan to keep the division competitive and save them from the shame of winning too easily. But you saw through it all and now the scheme is blown.
Jim, I literally laughed out loud at that one. Great job.
This guy is an absolute bust lmao. Go back to Japan buddy. You’re gonna keep getting exposed in the majors.
Hard to be a bust when he’s making the league min.
Well, from the Dodgers’ perspective.
Depends on how the prospect they screwed over turns out.
That’s what they said about Ohtani. People calling for him to be sent to the minors and he was bust. There’s your history lesson. Gloryhole sir.
What you said sounds great. Trouble is, there is no logic in your words. Ohtani and Sasaki are two different people. The only thing remotely similar is that they both hale from Japan. You might do well to actually delve a little deeper into into things before you opine. “Shoulder impingements should never be looked at as “no big deal”. Rather it’s more like going to the doctor with weight loss and a lingering cough. “Gee, the doctor said I had a bad cough and prescribed a strong cough suppressant. Oh, and he’s already got me an appointment for x-rays and a CAT scan. Nothing wrong with me”! Well sometimes a cough is only a cough, and sometimes it’s something else. And the Dodgers “system” seems to give pitchers a case of “something else”. And Sasaki has not proven that he’s a good MLB pitcher or a healthy one. And the Dodgers have a history of destroying pitchers. I imagine that you are expecting the GREAT Kershaw to ride in and smite hitters as he once did. But those days are long past, he has grown old with many parts of his body which Time can’t fix. Enjoy your time while you can, it will take great skill, luck, and money to snatch a ring this year😱
Yankee Doubter: Nobody HALES from a place, but some HALE and healthy players HAIL from Japan.
Hail Mary for this Hail Storm.
The Dodgers system doesn’t give pitchers anything. The Dodgers target high velocity, high spin rate, long extension, max delivery pitchers, that are prone to injuries. The Dodgers can afford to take risks on “fragile” but “elite when healthy” pitchers, that’s why they have like 15 of them. They just have to hope they can keep 5 healthy at all times. With all the starting pitchers on that roster, only Yamamoto has made all of his starts, sort of, if you call pitching once a week, all of his starts.
Thank you, I stand corrected.
Adrian 7
That’s what they said about Ohtani.
=========================
Ohtani was the ROY. That’s not a serious statement.
Actually, no. Ohtani came over and put up a 3.31 ERA striking out 11.0 per 9 in his rookie season and everyone was saying he was the 2nd coming. Then he got hurt in June and had his 1st TJ surgery later that year after trying to rehab for a couple of months.
Ohtani had no arm injury history prior to that, and he hurt his elbow. Sasaki had an extensive injury history including a shoulder issue in 2024and had never thrown over 111 innings in NPB.
If a pitcher on a team I owned had to have an injury, I would much rather it be a UCL injury than a shoulder injury. A quick look at the recovery history shows that pitchers having a 1st time TJ or UCL revision surgery results in 80% returning to career averages, or baseline performance, by the 2nd season after returning to play. Shoulder injuries that require surgery result in pitchers returning to baseline performance only 27% of the time.
“Absolute bust”…”Bust” typically implies the team paid a boatload of money or moved heaven, Hell and earth to acquire him.
Neither of which is even remotely true in Sasaki’s case. It’s very hard to be a “bust” when a minimum(lesser) salary player literally falls into a team’s lap and the team did nothing out of the ordinary to acquire him.
I’d say “bust” is more related to expectations or hype as opposed to how much was paid or what any specific team did to acquire him.
Early draft choices come to mind in sports or even in mlb highly projected prospects.
I’m not calling him a bust – just offering perspective on usage of the term.
Way too premature to call Sasaki a bust. Dodgers are just fortunate they have the funding to invest in the depth of a 10-man rotation, where they’re 6-10 starters are better than most team’s 1-5 starters. It is what it is.
Yeah, his stats show great promise, especially with a shoulder injury. Last year year he had shoulder fatigue, during a year when he threw a staggering 111innings. That doesn’t worry you because you are either a young fan or a new fan jumping on the bandwagon aglow with the pronouncements from the Dodgers PR department. But there is time enough to learn.
Let me guess. Your team wasn’t one of the finalists for Roki, and your feeling were hurt.
Now he isn’t doing great, and you saw your chance to pile on and talk smack.
Sorry your team didn’t do better.
Another Dodgers Fan: Let me guess. You’re the type of front running fan, typical of teams like the Dodgers and Yankees, who actually believes that the success of your team, with which you have nothing to do personally, makes you a superior human being whose solid waste doesn’t stink.
Congrats.
That’s known as insecurity.
Baron, I have been a dodgers fan for decades. I’ve gone through the good and bad times as a fan. From the O’Malley’s to the MCcourts, to the current ownership group.
I don’t consider myself superior due to team success or less than when they don’t play well. I appreciate when the team is run well and they do everything they can to win. But I’m sure every fan would that for their own team. When they’ve been in the front, I’ve been a fan. When they were a train wreck, I was a fan.
What team are you a fan of?
And since we’re playing the game of who others are, let me take a guess. You’re the kind of Internet guy that thinks if he puts random people down it’ll make him look smart. Good luck with that.
Regarding my solid waste, I generally don’t go around smelling it. But to each his own.
If you can’t smell it, then you must think it doesn’t stink. And your post that prompted my response put someone else down for not being a fan of a better team.
Pot meet Kettle and case closed.
Fair enough. I read the post I first replied to again. And initially thought it said something differently worded.
My apologies to you both. I can admit mistakes.
I’m not sorry but why should I be?
All you cynical medical experts spouting off with no real information whatsoever.
His shoulder is like totally impinged
He definitely has shoulderitis. Obviously.
Your man is 25 years old coming off season with shoulder issues including shoulder fatigue in a season that he threw 111 innings, and last I heard the team has a six man rotation to accommodate their fragile Japanese toys. Yet, amazingly you are unafraid, confident in the Dodgers ability to run a pitching staff. And his K/W numbers, nothing to see here! Such confidence. I am impressed.
he is 23.
Roki should have signed with SD. Dodgers have ruined his arm just like they ruin all their SP’s arms.
Yeah he could have roomed with Musgrove and Darvish.
He was recommended Tommy John years ago in Japan. This is not a Dodgers. Padres pushed Clevinger and Musgrove to blowing out their arms in playoff games. Dodgers are fine with shutting down guys in October even if it means less of a chance at a ring
“Roki should have..Dodgers have ruined his arm”…I’m glad you realized that only the Dodgers have been having pitching injuries. I’m glad you noticed this very suspicious pattern.
This would really be hard to pin down if other teams actually had pitching injuries too. But, seeing how it’s only the Dodgers having injury, we should be able to get to the bottom of this quickly.
Japanese fans somehow knew this was coming.
“Japanese fans knew”…Japanese people can see and foretell the future?
My goodness, no wonder my younger brother recently hired a Japanese stockbroker.
You’re on fire tonight, bud
Actually, there is some logic to this.
I think there were probably a lot of people wondering why Sasaki didn’t wait one more year to become an unrestricted FA.
Yamamoto signed for $325M. Sasaki signed for $6M. If he felt 100% certain of his shoulder, then it makes absolutely no sense to not pitch in Japan for one more year, and then start asking for YY’s $325M.
roki was hurt alot last year. alot of injury concerns when he was being recruited. thats why he posted now and didnt wait 2 yrs. he knew he was hurt and wanted to sign a deal asap
this is not a surprise
A shoulder impingement is generally not a long term injury. If that was his problem, he would have had it treated long before now. This injury likely just happened.
If he knows he will need UCL in the next year or two there is no point pitching in Japan for those two years. No real money lost. If he didn’t think his chances of UCL were high he would have waited for the payday.
“Sasaki’s injury history was the only knock against his time in Japan. He never reached 130 innings in an NPB season. He was limited to 18 starts and 111 frames last season. Sasaki missed time with an oblique tear and reportedly battled shoulder fatigue in 2024.” – this article
“He was limited to 91 innings last year by an oblique injury, and to date he’s cleared the century mark just once.” – CBS Sports Jun 19, 2024
“The decline in Sasaki’s fastball velocity in 2025 has been impossible to ignore. He touched 100 mph during the Dodgers’ season opener in Japan, but he has since dropped into the low 90s. That after hitting 102.5 mph and averaging 99.2 mph for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2023.” – MLB.com
It didn’t “just happen.” Many expected it.
Every year including a shoulder injury last year. Still would have liked for the Padres to sign him.
There is almost no doubt in my mind that Sasaki knew he had shoulder issues.
And I would gladly have my RS trade for him almost regardless of any injuries.
I think we all would have loved to have him sign with our favorite team. When he gets healthy, he is going to be very good.
Dodgers cornering the market on Shoulder injuries
When I read he was trying to increase his velocity I figured an elbow or shoulder injury was right around the corner. These guys are killing their bodies while chasing spin and velocity.
Look at the pay these days. They won’t need elbows after baseball retirement.
What’s funny though, is that it’s a lack of spin for Sasaki that makes his best pitch work.
Are you trying to say that 102.5 mph is not what made his most effective pitch work?
Hopefully that’s the reason for his lack of control.
I’m expecting him to come back and look like the late great Hideo Nomo.
He’s alive and well at 56.
Thank goodness!
Mr. Nomo is always on time
Nomo is still alive and working for the team in San Diego
Sasaki is crying somewhere.
Sasaki got the injury while rubbing shoulders with Snell and Glasnow.
This just drives down the $ of his extension. For those of you worried about the Dodgers spending beyond their means…
I think the following guys will be total colassal busts: Sasaki, Snell, Glasnow. Snell and Glassnow always hurt. Maybe you see Snell next yr. Both are payroll bandts. Thats what happens when you get Borassed. Sasaki, I dont think he is that good. In the clutch also questionable.
Cutting edge analysis. Give us more!
I hope that when Roki returns we see that impressive 100+ mph FB. I’m tired of seeing his FB clock at 94. Opposing batters feast on those non competitive pitches.
Injured his shoulder? He’s done.
Rotator cuff surgery within a years time.
Roki is awesome. He has had to pitch against some pretty tough teams. All things considered he has done pretty well for such a young pitcher and I am sure he will be lights out soon enough. You got this Roki!
New (bigger) baseball, new language/comms, and new schedule to learn as well.
That’s why Roki should have signed with any team except the Dodgers. Their fans are already calling for him to be sent to the minors. He should have signed with the Padres, Jays, Yankees, Mets, Giants, hell any other team than the Dodgers.
I’m not sure you can put the Yankees or Mets on that list. Phillies fans would be ruthless too.
Bunch of slackers. Maybe the Philly fans, but Yankee and Met fans are the picture of decorum compared to Red Sox fans.
If my math is correct, that is 15 starting pitchers on the IL or unavailable to pitch including Ohtani for the Dodgers.
That didn’t take long.
Seems like the Dodgers have had a LOT of pitching injuries over the past few years. What are they doing (or not doing) to cause this? Is their pitching program flawed or is their medical staff deficient?
They should probably take advice from some of these other teams. These are only from the past 24 hours…
Cardinals’ Sem Robberse Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
By Darragh McDonald | May 14, 2025 at 12:03pm CDT
Brewers Place Jose Quintana On IL With Shoulder Impingement
By Darragh McDonald | May 14, 2025 at 11:58am CDT
Mariners Place Bryce Miller On IL With Elbow Inflammation
By Darragh McDonald | May 14, 2025 at 11:53am CDT
Guardians Place Ben Lively On Injured List With Flexor Strain
By Anthony Franco | May 13, 2025 at 10:04pm CDT
Jake Bloss To Undergo UCL Surgery
By Steve Adams | May 13, 2025 at 3:35pm CDT
Jason Foley Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
By Steve Adams | May 13, 2025 at 3:16pm CDT
There’s an epidemic of pitching injuries with the increase in velocity and spin. But I don’t think it’s unfair to say the Dodgers have a type. Hey, worked for them last year!
The baseball gods are angry at the Dodgers….
The curse of pitching for the Dodgers continues.
Should’ve signed with the Mets. Hefner would’ve had you right. Look at canning and the rest of our staff.
Another Dodgers pitcher down. Hardly shocking.
Color me shocked, Dodger always seem to break their Japanese imports
If only they could defer his injury.
He definitely needs a stint in the minors when he returns.
We thought the Dodgers were arrogantly running up their payroll signing an excessive amount of starting pitchers over the offseason. While we knew there were greater than usual injury risks with some of them, this is getting ridiculous. It turns out that the Dodgers are needing every bit of that incredible depth they stockpiled!
TJ next!
This is his shoulder for 2nd season in a row. More likely to get rotator cuff surgery which is more devastating to a pitcher’s career.
My heart bleeds for the dodgers as I chuckle!
Right now David Sterns strikes me as a genius.