Roki Sasaki joined the list of sidelined Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers when he was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this month because of a right shoulder impingement.
Sasaki had been pitching through discomfort, which the team believes played a part in his early struggles. The 23-year-old went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in eight starts before going on the IL.
Sasaki is expected to resume playing catch during the Dodgers’ current road trip, but the team otherwise has not offered a timeline for his return to avoid putting pressure on the rookie pitcher.
Sasaki reportedly is hoping to get back on a Major League mound in late June, via Dylan Hernández of the L.A. Times:
Roki Sasaki is targeting a return in late June from what the team described as a shoulder impingement, but the rookie never looked entirely comfortable before he went down, so who knows what he will offer them when he comes back.
Sasaki’s first couple of months haven’t gone according to plan, but the right-hander is hopeful that his time on the IL will allow him to reset. He has largely struggled to begin his MLB career due to a combination of velocity and command issues.
“I do feel like this is a good time to be able to do that, so I want to make sure that I’m fully healthy and be able to address anything that I had so that it leads to better performance,” Sasaki said.
Dave Roberts hopes Roki Sasaki will regroup
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is also confident that Sasaki will benefit from the downtime and make some mechanical adjustments. “I think so,” Roberts began.
“Obviously, we didn’t know what to expect this year, but to think he was going to go wire to wire, given his track record and history of innings, was probably unrealistic. So this could be that little bit of reprieve in the middle of the season. Then we can get him back to feeling healthy, strong, 100%, and help us get through the World Series.”
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