Roki Sasaki returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers roster on Wednesday and made quite the impression in his new bullpen role.
The right-hander entered in relief for Blake Snell and tossed a scoreless seventh inning on just 13 pitches. Sasaki retired all three batters faced, collected two strikeouts and reached 100 mph on his fastball.
That was followed by Sasaki throwing another scoreless inning out of the bullpen, again flashing improved velocity and command.
“He looks like a different person,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s an inning or two, I think there’s just a lot more confidence, a lot more conviction, and obviously the stuff is up from where it was earlier this year. And he’s learned a lot from this season.
“Some of the struggles, the not being able to participate, to being in Triple-A, the rehab assignment, and to come back. He just wants to help. I’m really, really proud of his growth and what he’s done.”
When Sasaki pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was his first appearance for the team since May 9. He’d been limited to just eight Major League starts prior to that point.
Because he is a starter by trade, Sasaki could potentially pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen. However, Roberts said the Dodgers are still determining what his role will be going forward.
“I don’t know,” Roberts began. “I think two would probably be the max. But depending on the rest, depending on how he looks, we’ll kind of have conversation.
“But I’m not sure. As we say, it’s fluid. We’ve just got to kind of see. I don’t want to make any decisions right now.”
Roki Sasaki could make Dodgers postseason roster
Despite missing most of his rookie season due to a right shoulder impingement, Sasaki will have a chance to earn a spot on the Dodgers postseason roster as a relief pitcher.
Emmet Sheehan is being converted to a bullpen role and it’s possible the Dodgers will do the same with Clayton Kershaw for the playoffs as well.
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