Dodgers make surprising addition to 31-man Tokyo Series roster after awful appearance

The Los Angeles Dodgers are just days away from their unofficial season opener at MLB's Tokyo Series on March 15.

LA will bring 31 players to Japan to take on the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers before the regular season opens stateside. To his surprise, 26-year-old non-roster invitee Matt Sauer will accompany the Dodgers across the world to potentially play at the Tokyo Dome.

Sauer has appeared in four spring training games for LA, with his worst outing on March 7. In the ninth inning, his third of the night, he surrendered four runs to the Mariners' Cactus League squad without recording an out. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came to the mound to pull him for a pitching change, but the skipper was smiling.

Before the two walked to the dugout, Roberts told Sauer he would be joining the team on its Tokyo trip. The young reliever described his feeling of utter shock to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

The Dodgers will bring non-roster invitee Matt Sauer to the Tokyo Series after rough four-run outing

“I honestly didn’t even know how to react,” Sauer said. “I thought it was first-class. It was awesome, the way he did it.”

The Dodgers signed Sauer, a former Yankees prospect and one-year Kansas City Royal, to a minor-league deal before spring training. He posted a rough 7.71 ERA with nine strikeouts and 11 walks over 16.1 innings of work with the Royals in 2024 and likely didn't think there was much chance he'd be flying to Tokyo with the Dodgers just months later.

Los Angeles is short on bullpen arms in the lead-up to Opening Day, which helped Sauer land his spot on the 31-man travel roster. Michael Kopech is sidelined with forearm soreness, Evan Phillips is healing a torn rotator cuff he sustained in the 2024 NLCS, and Bobby Miller still needs more time on the shelf after being hit in the face with a comebacker off the bat of Michael Busch early in Cactus League play. Brusdar Graterol and Edgardo Henriquez will also begin the season on the injured list, and Michael Grove recently underwent season-ending surgery.

His stats look rough on paper, but Roberts has praised Sauer for his work with the Dodgers and said he's "had a great spring." Ardaya reports that LA's pitching staff has already helped him expand his arsenal by adding a sinker and cutter to his mix. He may get a chance to show them off at the Tokyo Dome.