Dodgers get sense of Roki Sasaki return with injury timeline update

Roki Sasaki has been far from the pitcher he was expected to be when the sweepstakes were over, the dust cleared, and he put on a Dodgers uniform. Something of a grace period had to be granted, given both the physical and emotional hurdles of transferring over to MLB, but it was rare that he showed even flashes of what made him one of the most-hyped free agents of all time. And then he went onto the IL on May 13.

The Dodgers are calling it a 'shoulder impingement,' which is just as vague as almost every other name teams like to assign to injuries. On top of the fact that Sasaki just hadn't done much to prove himself yet, he also dealt with injuries in his last few years in Japan and even declined Tommy John earlier in his career, which could've understandably made some fans catastrophize when the IL move was announced.

A timeline to his return has been basically nonexistent in the two weeks he's been absent, but the Dodgers provided a little more clarity last week. Dylan Hernández of the LA Times reported that Sasaki was targeting a late June return and started playing catch during the Dodgers' latest road trip to New York and Cleveland. He'll start a throwing progression in earnest this week.

Roki Sasaki targeting a late June return to Dodgers after disappointing start and IL stint

By the time he went onto the IL, Sasaki had pitched eight starts for a 4.72 ERA. His longest outing was six innings against the Rangers on April 19, when he gave up two runs on a homer to Kyle Higashioka and Kirby Yates blew the game in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off two-run homer to Adolis García. But he averaged just around 4 1/3 innings per stat before he went down, which necessarily pushed a lot more responsibility on the bullpen.

Walks have been a problem for Sasaki ever since his debut, and he hasn't pitched a single start when he's given up less than two walks. During his first two outings, he gave up nine.

Part of the problem could've been the injury he ultimately needed an IL stint to recover from, and hopefully some of his command will be restored when he comes back. The Dodgers need every starter they can get, as soon as they can get them, but Sasaki has a long way to go to prove that he was worth all the hype.