Dodgers' Dave Roberts Doesn't Know What Rest of Season Looks Like for Roki Sasaki

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) looks on from the dugout during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on May 18. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts surveyed his starting rotation prior to Monday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and had to be happy about what he saw.

Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani and Emmet Sheehan are healthy. In August, since Snell replaced Dustin May in the starting rotation, the unit is fourth in MLB in ERA (3.28).

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And then there is Roki Sasaki.

“Guys here are pitching well. I’m not sure what that means for Roki after this one,” Roberts told reporters in Pittsburgh, including Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group. “Let’s just get through this one. Pitch well, (be) healthy and then we’ll make a decision.”

Sasaki did not pitch well Tuesday, at least in the first inning of his latest rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The right-hander got two quick outs against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (an Astros affiliate) before quickly running into trouble.

The next four batters were hit by a pitch, hit a home run, drew a walk, and homered in that order. Before he had recorded three outs, Sasaki had allowed four runs.

In four rehab games, all since Aug. 14, Sasaki has a 7.07 ERA, a 1.79 WHIP, and has struck out only eight batters in 14 Triple-A innings. The five innings he threw Tuesday for Oklahoma City marked the first time he's gotten through even four innings — and testament to his improvement after the first inning against the Space Cowboys.

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The same right shoulder impingement that landed him on the injured list in May might not be bothering him from a physical standpoint, but Sasaki's statistics paint a portrait of a different pitcher than the one who went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts for the NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines last year, with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings.

The hunt to sign Sasaki roped in almost every MLB team, all of whom could plausibly afford to pay his signing bonus. The Dodgers welcomed Sasaki to Los Angeles with a glittery press conference in January. Yet since May, he's made four appearances in Oklahoma City and none in Los Angeles. It's unclear how, when, or why that trend will change.

Clayton Kershaw struggled through five innings Tuesday against the Pirates, but the Dodgers still have no reason to displace him or any of their other starters simply to bring Sasaki up to the majors.

Sasaki will reach the 30-day limit on his rehab assignment Sept. 12. That leaves the Dodgers with little time to decide whether they want to keep Sasaki stretched out as a starter, or move him to the bullpen.

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