Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki Could Head to Injured List in Shocking Update

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki reported arm soreness after his most recent start, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Tuesday.

Per The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, the team is still figuring out whether it is going to require an injured list stint for the 23-year-old.

Roki Sasaki reported some arm soreness after his last start. Dave Roberts said the Dodgers are sorting out whether that will require an IL stint.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 13, 2025

Sasaki last pitched on Friday and failed to record a strikeout. He went four innings and allowed five runs, five hits and two walks over 61 pitches in his outing.

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After showing flashes of his triple-digit speed during his MLB debut in his home country of Japan as part of the MLB Tokyo series, Sasaki has yet to get back to that same velocity he advertised during four seasons of Nippon Professional Baseball play.

So far in 2025, Sasaki's velocity on the four-seamer is in the 80th percentile among qualified pitchers at 96 mph. This has accounted for an abysmal whiff rate on his fastball at just 10.1%.

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The 23-year-old's command has been a point of conversation this season as he has a concerning strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.09.

Through 34.1 innings pitched, Sasaki has 24 strikeouts, 22 walks, 18 earned runs and 29 hits allowed. Batters have taken Sasaki out of the park six times through his eight starts.

Sasaki still looked as polished as ever when first expressing interest in heading over to MLB. He posted a career 2.10 ERA in Japan along with 505 strikeouts to just 88 walks.

At this point of the season with so many stars on the injured list, the Dodgers should hope that Sasaki doesn't become the latest name to end up on the IL. Manager Dave Roberts recently spoke on the best thing for Sasaki is to get as much experience as possible despite the drop in his numbers.

“There’s nothing more impactful than going through a particular experience. He’s going through some struggles right now,” Roberts said. “Major-league hitters tell you what adjustments you need to make. Coaches can tell you things. He can think some things. But ultimately … you can make adjustments and he will make adjustments given how the hitters respond. I think you learn that by doing that here.”

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