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A Look At Three Starters Facing 2026 Adjustments

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Pitchers and catchers report in a few days. Spring Training games are less than two weeks away. Actual baseball is right around the corner, which means it’s officially “best shape of his life” season. There will be countless stories around the league about offseason improvements for virtually every player.

These days, those anecdotes are typically punctuated by a reference to Driveline or another facility of its ilk. And they almost always pertain to a flaw from the previous year. A hitter who struggled to make hard contact did swing speed training in the winter. A pitcher who faded in the second half changed his diet to improve endurance.

A trio of starters stand out as needing to make drastic changes heading into the 2026 season. Two of them are well on their way, while the third is more of a question mark. Here’s a quick rundown of each pitcher through the lens of the challenge they face in the upcoming year.

Michael Lorenzen vs. Coors Field

The veteran righty encounters this obstacle of his own volition. It’s one of the most imposing impediments in all of sports. Lorenzen signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Rockies, which means he’ll call Coors Field home. The venue trumps all others in terms of offensive production. Coors easily tops Statcast’s Park Factors leaderboard, scoring a 113 over the past three seasons. Fenway Park is a distant second at 104. Coors Field is No. 1 in park effect for hits, runs, singles, and OBP from 2023 to 2025.

Fortunately, Lorenzen already has a plan. He intends to lean on an eight-pitch mix to conquer Coors Field. “I feel like I own the shapes (of my pitches) … I just know what I’m trying to do, I know what the feel is I’m looking for and the shape I’m trying to create,” Lorenzen told reporters, including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “But, obviously, being in Colorado is going to have its challenges, so I’ll be making my way up there soon to throw a few bullpens and just see exactly how these shapes are going to move.”

Lorenzen threw seven pitches last season, per Baseball Savant. He only used the sweeper 8.2% of the time, but every other offering was above 10%. Lorenzen’s most common pitch was his four-seamer, though he still only threw it at a 22% clip. The 34-year-old righty scuffled to a 4.64 ERA with Kansas City. He was likely looking at a depth starter/swingman role at other destinations, but signing with Colorado will give him a good chance to slot into a rotation.

“We didn’t have to convince him of anything; he ran toward this challenge,” head of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said. “Michael definitely wanted to pitch here. … I don’t think he’s afraid of anything. This is a challenge that he was actually (eager) to take on.”

Roki Sasaki vs. A Starter’s Arsenal

Maybe Lorenzen can loan Sasaki a couple of pitches. He’ll need them as he transitions back to the rotation. The NPB import struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, posting a 4.46 ERA with 28 strikeouts to 22 walks across eight starts. Sasaki hit the IL in May with a shoulder injury. He returned at the tail end of the season and emerged as the best reliever in the Dodgers’ bullpen. Sasaki allowed just one earned run across 10 2/3 innings in the postseason. He racked up three saves and two holds.

Sasaki’s splitter was as advertised, recording a strong 37.2% whiff rate as his go-to punchout pitch. The rest of the repertoire left much to be desired. Sasaki threw his fastball about half the time. It rarely missed bats (11.1% whiff rate) and was clobbered for a .500 SLG. Sasaki threw a slider 16.3% of the time, but it had a zone rate below 40%.

The plan is for Sasaki to return to the rotation in 2026. Blake Snell’s slow buildup this offseason could make it easier to fit Sasaki. Relying on a fastball/splitter combo isn’t normally a viable approach for a starter, and manager Dave Roberts agrees. “He needs to develop a third pitch,” Roberts told Dylan Hernandez for the New York Post.“It’s going to need to be something that goes left.”

Sasaki is working on a cutter and a two-seamer, per Hernandez. The former would fit the bill as something that moves away from a right-handed hitter. Both pitches could help Sasaki find the zone more frequently. He had a 59.3% strike rate last year, nearly 5% below league average.

Shota Imanaga vs. His Floundering Fastball

Imanaga’s “rising” fastball was the primary driver behind his success in 2024. The pitch, coupled with an elite splitter and a smattering of breaking balls, carried the left-hander to a sub-3.00 ERA with standout control in his rookie season. Imanaga got off to a strong start in 2025, but the wheels came off following a hamstring strain in early May. The veteran scuffled to a 4.14 ERA after returning from the IL. He gave up 24 home runs in 17 starts. The struggles continued in the playoffs, as Imanaga was tagged for six earned runs in 6 2/3 postseason innings, including three more homers.

The fastball was clearly different after the injury. Imanaga’s heater slipped by half a tick in velocity and by 1.6 inches in induced vertical break. The pitch’s Stuff+ went from a strong 112 to an underwhelming 98. (h/t to Carson Wolf on X for digging up those splits)

If Imanaga’s fastball doesn’t have its elite characteristics, the home runs will keep coming. Hitters have put the ball in the air against Imanaga at a hefty 66.1% clip in his two MLB seasons. Those balls were finding the gloves of outfielders when his arsenal was most effective, but they were getting squared up and leaving the yard last year.

Maybe an offseason of rest for the hamstring will be the relief Imanaga needs to get back on track. A tweak here or there could also alleviate the concerns with his primary pitch. Either way, Imanaga will be one to watch closely this spring.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

Dodgers Rotation Notes: Snell, Yamamoto, Sasaki

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The Dodgers have made free agent moves in the lineup (Kyle Tucker) and bullpen (Edwin Díaz) to further load up the sport’s best roster. They’ve mostly sat out the rotation, confident in their internal arms.

L.A.’s pitching staff has carried heavy workloads on their runs to consecutive World Series. Jack Harris of The California Post writes that the club plans to keep a close eye on their veteran arms early in the season. That’s particularly true of Blake Snell, who tells Harris that he delayed his offseason throwing program after feeling “exhausted” at the end of the Fall Classic. The two-time Cy Young winner added that while he’s hopeful of being ready for Opening Day, that’s not a guarantee since the team is more focused on making sure he doesn’t put too much stress on his arm in camp.

Snell is among the three to five most talented pitchers in MLB. He’s dominant when healthy but availability has never been his strong suit. Snell has a pair of 180-inning campaigns but hasn’t reached even 130 frames in any of his other seven full seasons. Last year, he missed more than three months between April and the beginning of August with a shoulder issue. He was limited to 11 starts and 61 1/3 innings during the regular season.

He was around when it mattered most, logging 34 innings of 3.18 ERA ball during the World Series run. Snell started one game apiece in the Wild Card Series, Division Series and Championship Series. He worked at least six innings in each, including eight frames of shutout ball with 10 strikeouts in the first game of the NLCS, then came back for two more starts in the World Series.

Snell went five innings in Game 1 and logged 6 2/3 frames in Game 5. He gave up five runs and took the loss in both, but he came back on two days rest for his most important outing of the season. Snell logged an inning and a third out of the bullpen in Game 7, keeping a 4-3 deficit at one run to set up Miguel Rojas’ game-tying homer before coming back for the start of the bottom of the ninth.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto nevertheless outshone Snell in the Fall Classic. He deservedly took home Series MVP honors after getting the win in three of L.A.’s four victories. Yamamoto tossed consecutive complete games in Games 2 of the NLCS and World Series. He went six innings in Game 6, then came back on zero rest for 2 2/3 frames and 34 pitches as the decider went into extras. Yamamoto’s arm was so fatigued by the end of that game that he couldn’t lift his MVP trophy above his head without help from teammates.

Yamamoto won’t have the luxury of a slow spring buildup, as he has already signed on to try to help Japan defend their World Baseball Classic title. He’ll need to be ready for competitive game action when the tournament gets underway on March 6. Shohei Ohtani is also on the Japanese roster, though the team hasn’t announced whether he’ll pitch in the tournament.

Roki Sasaki is not expected to play in the WBC. His first major league season was up and down. He only made 10 appearances and logged 36 1/3 MLB innings during the regular season. Sasaki was out between April and September with a shoulder impingement. The Dodgers used him in short relief in the playoffs. Sasaki managed 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball despite walking five while recording only six strikeouts.

The Dodgers have maintained they view Sasaki as a starter going into 2026. Manager Dave Roberts reiterated as much when speaking with The California Post’s Dylan Hernandez this week, albeit with the note that he’d like the talented young righty to better develop his third pitch. Sasaki used his fastball half the time and his trademark splitter on around a third of his offerings last year. He used a low-80s breaking ball at roughly a 16% clip.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman appeared on Dodgers Territory this week and downplayed Sasaki’s need for a third pitch to an extent. “He was able to dominate in NPB with two pitches and frankly, I think he could here as well with being able to execute at a higher level,” Friedman said. “Last year, his delivery was out of whack, velocity was down a little bit. So it’s either adding that third pitch or elevating the pitch-making ability.”

Sasaki’s fastball was in the upper-90s and routinely touched triple digits in Japan. He averaged a solid but more pedestrian 96.1 MPH during his rookie season in the majors. Better health will hopefully lead to an uptick in stuff in year two. Sasaki projects as the fifth or sixth starter in a rotation that would likely also comprise Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan if everyone is available on Opening Day. River Ryan, Gavin Stone and Kyle Hurt should all be back from surgeries that cost them the ’25 season and are talented depth arms on the 40-man roster.

Dodgers Have Interest In Devin Williams

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The Dodgers have shown interest in Devin Williams as they pursue a high-leverage righty reliever, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. They join the Marlins as teams known to be interested in the two-time All-Star.

Williams was one of the three to five best relievers in MLB throughout his time with the Brewers. He pitched to a 1.83 earned run average over parts of six seasons in Milwaukee. That included three straight sub-2.00 ERA showings between 2022-24. Among relievers with 100+ innings over that stretch, Williams trailed only Edwin Díaz and Félix Bautista with a 39.5% strikeout rate. The only real concern were the back fractures that cost him the first half of the ’24 season.

Milwaukee traded Williams to the Yankees before his final year of arbitration. He had the worst season of his career in the Bronx. Williams turned in a 4.79 ERA over 62 innings. He started the year poorly enough that he lost the closer role in April. Williams reclaimed it in June when Luke Weaver went on the injured list but scuffled again in July. The Yankees acquired David Bednar at the deadline to push Williams into a setup role for the remainder of the season.

While it was clearly an uneven season, there’s still reason to expect a return to form. Williams fanned an excellent 34.7% of batters faced while getting swinging strikes nearly 17% of the time. Those aren’t quite at the same level as his Milwaukee days, but they’re still top 15 marks in MLB. His 94.1 MPH average four-seam fastball speed was in line with his career levels. Williams continues to get ridiculous movement on the changeup/screwball that has been his signature pitch throughout his career. Opposing hitters had a lofty .339 average on balls in play when runners were on base. Some teams could chalk that up as poor sequencing luck and continue to project Williams as a top 10 reliever moving forward.

The poor season meant the Yankees weren’t willing to risk Williams accepting a $22.025MM qualifying offer to return to the Bronx. MLBTR ranked his earning potential second among relievers behind Díaz, predicting that the strong peripherals would lead a club to offer him a four-year, $68MM deal. That’d require a team to overlook the unsightly ERA, though, so it’s certainly not out of the question that he’s forced to settle for a shorter-term contract. Robert Suárez, Kyle Finnegan and Pete Fairbanks are among other closers available on the free agent market.

The Dodgers made the biggest free agent reliever move of last offseason. Their four-year, $72MM investment in Tanner Scott did not look good in the first season. Neither did bringing back Blake Treinen on a two-year deal or the one-year contract for Kirby Yates. Among their traditional relievers, the Dodgers were essentially down to Alex Vesia as their lone reliable late-game arm in the postseason.

Converted starters Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki were their top righty relievers in October. Both pitchers are expected to be back in the rotation mix next spring. General manager Brandon Gomes said this evening that the team “absolutely” still views Sasaki as a starter (link via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). Gomes nevertheless said the Dodgers don’t feel they need to land a top-tier reliever this offseason. He expressed optimism in a Scott bounce back, and they could get Brusdar Graterol and Brock Stewart back from injuries. Neither Graterol nor Stewart has shown much ability to stay healthy, though, so there’s presumably a measure of “GM speak” in Gomes downplaying the need for a high-octane arm.

Roberts: Roki Sasaki Will Be “Primary Option” In Save Situations

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Roki Sasaki will operate as the Dodgers’ “primary option” in save situations, manager Dave Roberts told reporters this evening (relayed by Jack Harris of The Los Angeles Times). Roberts hedged on calling the rookie righty his full-time closer, noting that they can’t ask Sasaki to pitch in every game.

The Dodgers tried to avoid using Sasaki last night in Philadelphia. L.A. took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning with a chance to take a 2-0 series advantage. Roberts called upon Blake Treinen to handle the ninth. Treinen promptly surrendered hits to Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos to put the tying run on second without recording an out. Roberts then turned to southpaw Alex Vesia with left-handed hitting Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler due up.

Vesia recorded two outs, including a force play on Castellanos at third when the Phils called for Stott to sacrifice. Roberts finally turned to Sasaki to face Trea Turner with runners on the corners and two away in a 4-3 game. He got a grounder to second to earn the save. It was the first time in his MLB career that he was called upon in the middle of an inning.

Sasaki has now finished three of the Dodgers’ four postseason games. He wrapped up the Wild Card Series by tossing a scoreless ninth inning to complete a 8-4 win over the Reds. That wasn’t a save situation but was essentially treated as such with a chance to lock down the series and get two off days before the start of the Philly series. Sasaki got his first save in Game 1 of the NLDS, tossing a scoreless ninth to close a 5-3 victory.

The bullpen is the biggest question as the Dodgers try to repeat as World Series winners. Vesia is their only traditional reliever who has been a lockdown presence this year. Treinen allowed 10 earned runs across 9 1/3 innings in September and certainly looked beatable in Game 2. Tanner Scott, the primary closer for most of the year, allowed a 4.74 ERA over 61 regular season appearances. The Dodgers haven’t used him in the playoffs yet. Converted starters Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan have gotten high-leverage work. Roberts also called on Tyler Glasnow for an inning and two thirds out of the bullpen in Game 1 of the NLDS. Glasnow would start Game 4 if the Phils can stave off elimination tomorrow night.

Will Smith, Justin Dean Make Dodgers’ Wild Card Roster; Michael Conforto Left Off

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Catcher Will Smith and outfielder Justin Dean are on the Dodgers’ Wild Card roster for their series against Cincinnati. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported Smith is expected to be used as a pinch-hitter off the bench. Notable absences from Los Angeles’ 26-man squad include outfielder Michael Conforto and lefty reliever Anthony Banda. Clayton Kershaw will also be watching the Wild Card series from the sidelines.

Smith was placed on the injured list in early September after taking a foul ball off the hand. Follow-up testing revealed a hairline fracture that ultimately kept him out of game action for the rest of the regular season. Manager Dave Roberts said Smith would take live at-bats this week to determine his availability for the postseason. Apparently, Smith showed he was capable of contributing in the Wild Card round, at least as a hitter. The Dodgers are also carrying catchers Ben Rortvedt and Dalton Rushing.

Having Smith’s bat in the mix, even as just a pinch-hitter, should be a big boost for the Dodgers. The 30-year-old backstop put together a career year at the plate, slashing .296/.404/.497 with a 153 wRC+. Smith was hitting over .300 beyond the All-Star break until a sluggish August brought down his numbers. Rortvedt is a glove-first option, and Rushing hasn’t lived up to his prospect pedigree as a rookie, so both could cede at-bats to Smith if they come up in a big spot. It’s unclear when Smith will be able to return to the lineup in a defensive capacity.

Conforto put together a solid September to make a late bid for the Wild Card roster, but came up short. He finished the regular season with a .199 batting average and just 12 home runs. Conforto put together a strong season in San Francisco last year, earning him a 1-year, $17MM deal to stay in California with the rival Dodgers. He was signed to provide a left-handed complement to LA’s righty-heavy outfield group, but fell well short of expectations.

The Dodgers opted for a more dynamic player in their final outfield spot, with Dean making the team. The 28-year-old spent seven seasons in Atlanta’s minor league system before joining Los Angeles via minor league free agency. He made 18 appearances with the big-league club, all of which came as a pinch runner or defensive sub. Dean went 1-for-1 as a base stealer and showed plenty of prowess swiping bags in the minors. He’s posted three separate minor league seasons with 35+ steals, including a career-high 61 swipes across two levels in 2024.

Kershaw is the most prominent name to be left of the Dodgers’ Wild Card roster, but another lefty might be the biggest snub. Banda was a solid contributor in LA’s bullpen for a second consecutive year. He finished the regular season with a 3.18 ERA across a career-high 71 appearances. The Dodgers have coaxed an extra tick on the fastball out of Banda, and the results have been the best of his tumultuous MLB career. Banda’s handedness seems to be the main culprit for his exclusion from the roster. The Dodgers will carry four lefty relievers in the first round, with closer Tanner Scott joined by Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia, and Justin Wrobleski. The bullpen has been a frequent talking point this season after the unit finished with an ugly 4.27 ERA.

One new face among the LA relievers will be Roki Sasaki. The right-hander rejoined the team last week after missing four months with a shoulder injury. He transitioned to a bullpen role near the end of his rehab assignment and made a pair of effective relief appearances following his return to the MLB squad. Sasaki’s fastball velocity was up considerably in his two relief outings. After sitting at 94.8 mph in his final start back in May, he averaged over 99 mph out of the ’pen. Sasaki could be a real weapon in shorter stints this postseason.

Dodgers Place Kirby Yates On Injured List

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The Dodgers announced that they have placed right-hander Kirby Yates on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 21st, due to a right hamstring strain. That is the corresponding move for fellow righty Roki Sasaki to be reinstated from the IL, a move that was reported yesterday. Manager Dave Roberts previously passed the news along to reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Yates, 38, signed a one-year deal, $13MM deal with the Dodgers coming into the year. He was coming off an excellent 2024 season with the Rangers wherein he posted a 1.17 earned run average over 61 appearances.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers haven’t gotten anywhere near that level of production in 2025. Yates went on the IL in mid-May due to a right hamstring strain and missed about three weeks. He also missed about three weeks in August due to lower back pain, so this will be his third IL stint of the year. Around those IL trips, he has tossed 41 1/3 innings for the Dodgers with a 5.23 ERA. His 29.2% strikeout rate is actually quite good but he’s been undone by the long ball, having allowed nine this year.

In a sense, his poor results make this not a huge loss. Many people on the internet are even convinced it’s a phantom IL stint just to get him out of the way. But almost every member of the Dodger bullpen has been struggling lately. Dodger relievers have a collective 5.69 ERA in the month of September, which is better than just four clubs in the majors. With guys like Michael Kopech and Brock Stewart also having been placed on the IL lately, the club surely doesn’t want to be losing more arms, even the ones that are currently struggling.

The Dodgers have a good chance at winning the National League West but probably won’t be able to catch the Phillies for a first-round bye. They will likely have to play the Wild Card round without Yates. He could perhaps be reinstated for the NLDS but he would have to get healthy and give the Dodgers the impression he is worthy of a roster spot by then.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

Dodgers To Activate Roki Sasaki From Injured List

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Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki is set to rejoin the team on Wednesday. He’s expected to be activated from the 60-day IL after missing more than four months with a shoulder impingement. Sasaki will work out of the bullpen, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Sonja Chen of MLB.com). Los Angeles already has an open 40-man roster spot after waiving Chuckie Robinson over the weekend, so they’ll only need to make an active roster move.

Sasaki hit the IL on May 9 with the shoulder issue. He made seven appearances on his rehab assignment, posting a 6.10 ERA across 20 2/3 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Sasaki initially worked as a starter during his minor league stint but appeared in relief in his final two outings. He tossed a pair of scoreless, hitless innings as a reliever, notching three strikeouts.

It’s been a challenging season for Sasaki in his first taste of big-league action. The NPB import has scuffled to a 4.72 ERA across eight MLB starts. The underlying metrics are even worse, with Sasaki recording an unsightly 5.88 SIERA and a 6.38 xERA. Shaky control was the main culprit. Sasaki had nearly as many walks (22) as strikeouts (24) over 34 1/3 innings. His massive 14.3% walk rate is more than double his worst season with the Chiba Lotte Marines (7.1% in 2024). The shoulder injury could’ve affected Sasaki’s command, though the 13.7% BB% during his rehab assignment doesn’t suggest much improvement.

Sasaki will have five days to make his case for the postseason roster. Los Angeles could certainly use another viable option in the bullpen. The Dodgers rank 20th in bullpen ERA on the season, and they’ve slipped to 25th in September. Michael Kopech is back on the IL, this time with knee inflammation. Tanner Scott has a 7.27 ERA and a pair of blown saves since returning from an elbow injury. Blake Treinen melted down again on Sunday against San Francisco. The veteran has allowed three earned runs on three occasions in September alone after allowing multiple runs just three times in 2024. A few decent showings from Sasaki out of the bullpen could be enough to earn him a spot on the playoff squad.

With the Dodgers boasting a largely healthy stable of starters to close the season, a return to the rotation wasn’t an option for Sasaki. Blake Snell returned in early August after dealing with his own shoulder injury, joining mainstays Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. Los Angeles has gotten passable contributions from Clayton Kershaw in what will be his final season, plus a breakout year from Emmet Sheehan. With Shohei Ohtani back on the mound and regularly tossing five innings, there wasn’t any room for Sasaki. The Dodgers will likely pare down their six-man rotation in the postseason, leaving even fewer opportunities for Sasaki to function as a starter.

Kershaw’s departure will open one rotation spot in 2026, though Sasaki will have plenty of competition to fill the job. Kyle Hurt and River Ryan should return after both underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. Gavin Stone could be back in the mix after shoulder surgery last October. Ben Casparius and Landon Knack are hanging around in the minors. And of course, the deep-pocketed Dodgers will likely be contenders for the top arms on the free agent market.

Roberts: Roki Sasaki “Open” To Pitching In Relief

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Roki Sasaki has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City for 31 days now, meaning that he would normally need to be activated from the injured list or pulled off his rehab assignment today. That’s not the case in this instance, however, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya) on Friday that Sasaki dealt with “a calf situation” during his rehab that extended the time he could be allowed to spend in Triple-A. He’ll make at least one more start in the minors, per Roberts, at which point it’s possible he’ll move back into pitching in MLB games.

Sasaki, 23, was perhaps the single most coveted free agent available last offseason after he made the decision to be posted for MLB clubs early. Sasaki’s decision meant that clubs couldn’t spend more than the sum of their international bonus pool money in order to lure the right-hander into signing a contract with them, meaning that virtually every team in baseball got involved in the Sasaki sweepstakes. The Dodgers ultimately came out on top, and while many at the time thought they had just locked up an ace for pennies on the dollar Sasaki has struggled in his first season stateside.

The right-hander posted a 4.72 ERA in eight starts for the Dodgers while walking (22) nearly as many batters as he struck out (24) before being placed on the injured list with a shoulder impingement back in May. He’s been sidelined ever since, and after he made his first rehab start at Triple-A on August 14 he’s not shown many signs of improvement. Those 18 2/3 innings of work with Oklahoma City have seen him pitch to a 6.75 ERA. While his 13.6% walk rate and 18.2% walk rate are both marginal improvements over his numbers in the big leagues, they’re still far below par in terms of command and not close to what one would expect from someone with Sasaki’s electric stuff.

Talented as the youngster is, it’s fair to wonder at this point whether the Dodgers would really be best served having Sasaki start big league games in the middle of a pennant race that figures to go down to the wire. Roberts didn’t specifically state what role Sasaki would take up upon returning to the big league club, but he did note that his “impression” is that Sasaki would be open to pitching in relief for the team if that’s what the club requires. With some combination of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto exceedingly likely to make up the Dodgers’ postseason rotation anyway, perhaps Sasaki could benefit from moving to the bullpen and focusing on maximizing his stuff in shorter bursts.

If Sasaki can prove to be effective in a relief role, that could be a huge relief for the Dodgers headed into the postseason given the struggles key relief arms like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and even Blake Treinen have faced this year. With those late-inning veterans scuffling, the Dodgers already seem likely to rely more on young, talented hurlers like Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer in high leverage situations moving forward. It would be a massive boon for the Dodgers if Sasaki can be part of that mix headed into the playoffs.

Dodgers Acquire Zach Penrod From Red Sox, Transfer Roki Sasaki To 60-Day IL

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2:50pm: The Dodgers have made it official, announcing that they acquired Penrod in exchange for cash considerations. Right-hander Roki Sasaki has been transferred to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding active roster move. Sasaki has been on the IL since mid-May due to a shoulder impingement. He can be reinstated 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be mid-July. He was recently shut down from throwing and has an uncertain timeline.

1:37pm: The Dodgers and Red Sox have agreed to a trade that’ll send left-hander Zach Penrod from Boston to Los Angeles, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The Sox designated Penrod for assignment earlier this week in the wake of the Rafael Devers blockbuster, as they were acquiring two 40-man players (Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison) and only trading away one.

Penrod, 28, is an interesting story. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Rangers in 2018 and pitched briefly in their system before being cut loose during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He then spent three years pitching in the independent Pioneer League before catching the eyes of Red Sox scouts and returning to affiliated ball.

A nice minor league showing across multiple levels in 2024 pushed Penrod up onto the 40-man roster. He tossed 62 2/3 frames across three levels and logged a 4.16 ERA with a huge 34.8% strikeout rate but a similarly hefty 12.4% walk rate. The Sox summoned him to the majors in the season’s second half, and he pitched four innings down the stretch, holding opponents to a run on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Penrod was in the mix for a bullpen spot heading into the 2025 season, but an elbow injury in spring training knocked him out for nearly three months. He returned to the mound in late May and has pitched 7 1/3 minor league innings. It’s been a mixed bag. He’s allowed four runs and only seven hits while punching out nine of 36 batters (25%). However, he’s also issued seven walks, plunked a batter and tossed three wild pitches.

Command has never been a particularly strong suit, but it’s also understandable if there’s some rust after he was initially diagnosed with elbow inflammation in late February and didn’t get back onto a mound in a game setting until May 24. Penrod’s 95 mph average fastball this year is a match for his 2024 mark, and he’s posted a huge 15% swinging-strike rate after logging a even more-impressive 16.6% mark in that regard during last year’s minor league run.

Penrod will give the Dodgers a hard-throwing lefty with clear bat-missing ability and, as critically, a full slate of three minor league option years remaining. Los Angeles churns through the final few spots of its bullpen as much as — if not more than — any other team in the sport, so flexible arms with Penrod’s general skill set are always going to be somewhat appealing to the Dodgers.

Roki Sasaki No Longer Throwing; No Timetable For Return

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9:31pm: Roberts struck a much more optimistic tone regarding Sasaki after this evening’s game, as relayed by Ardaya. Roberts emphasized that Sasaki is “pain-free” and “already moving around” before going on to suggest that he should be able to resume building up his rehab process “soon.” While his tone regarding the young right-hander was significantly more optimistic than earlier in the day, he still provided few specifics regarding the righty’s status or when he’ll resume his throwing program.

3:41pm: Rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki is no longer throwing due to him not feeling “comfortable” with his shoulder when throwing at full intensity, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) this afternoon. Sasaki has been on the injured list due to a right shoulder impingement for just over a month, but it doesn’t sound as if he’s likely to return anytime soon. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register adds that the Dodgers have no timeline for Sasaki’s return to throwing, while Ardaya suggests that Roberts’ comments indicated that Sasaki’s return to the mound in 2025 may not be guaranteed.

The news doesn’t change any short term plans for the Dodgers, as he wasn’t necessarily expected to return in the near future even before today’s news. MLB.com notes that Sasaki did not have an estimated return date and had not yet progressed beyond playing light catch as of last week. While pitching coach Mark Prior noted at that time (as relayed by Plunkett) that Sasaki was pain-free, he noted even then that the phenom hadn’t progressed enough to start ramping up the intensity of his fastball and that Sasaki must be “confident in his ability to throw the baseball” before his rehab can proceed. Roberts told reporters (including Benjamin Royer of the Los Angeles Times) that he would defer to Sasaki in describing the issue.

“As far as kind of the sensation,” Roberts said, as relayed by Royer. “It’s discomfort. I don’t think it’s pain, it’s tightness… whatever the adjective you want to use — I would rather him kind of say that.”

Regardless of the specific verbiage surrounding Sasaki’s stalled rehab, it’s clear he and the Dodgers were not seeing the sort of results they were looking for. As a result, the right-hander will be shut down from throwing for an indefinite period, though it appears that no additional testing on Sasaki’s shoulder is planned at this time. That suggests the Dodgers are at least confident they know what the problem is, but it’s still somewhat worrisome that the club could not say with confidence that Sasaki would return to the big league mound this season.

If Sasaki doesn’t return to the mound this year, it will be hard to view his rookie campaign as anything other than a disappointing one. The right-hander has made eight starts for the Dodgers, pitching to a 4.72 ERA (84 ERA+) in 34 1/3 innings of work across those outings. That’s not too far off from an average back-end starter at first glance, but Sasaki walked (22) nearly as many hitters as he struck out (24) and recorded an out in the sixth inning just twice while failing to record an out in the fifth inning four times. That combination of poor results, worse peripherals, and lack of volume made for a pretty bleak debut for Sasaki, particularly given his elite pedigree as one of the most talented young arms in the entire world.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that his talented hasn’t mysteriously disappeared. Eight starts is far too small of a sample to judge a pitcher on, and Sasaki’s bonafides as a potential top-of-the-rotation talent speak for themselves. He’s got some of the nastiest stuff in the entire sport, and posted a 2.10 ERA with a 32.7% strikeout rate across four NPB seasons. That includes an otherworldly 2023 where he pitched to a 1.78 ERA in 91 innings of work while striking out 39.1% of his opponents. Those huge strikeout numbers are particularly eye-popping when one considers the propensity towards contact found in NPB play, further adding to the pile of evidence that Sasaki’s future figures to be a very bright one.

All of that is why the Dodgers committed virtually their entire international bonus pool budget to signing him this winter in a sweepstakes that ultimately came down to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Toronto. While that investment hasn’t paid off yet, the young righty is still just 23 years old and will have plenty of opportunities to show off his talent in the future so long as he can get healthy enough to return to the mound. Perhaps that can happen as soon as later this season, but for now he’ll remain on the shelf alongside a bevy of other key Dodgers arms like Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Evan Phillips, and Brusdar Graterol. The Dodgers are currently relying on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Ben Casparius, and the soon-to-be-activated Emmet Sheehan to hold down the fort while most of the club’s Opening Day rotation is unavailable.

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