Roki Sasaki keeps Dodgers’ faith in him alive with unexpected rehab outings

It’s been a disappointing season for Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki, but that doesn’t mean he can’t end things on a good note. It feels like years ago at this point that Sasaki entered MLB with enormous hype, with some pundits declaring him the best pitching prospect ever. Sasaki fell far short of that hype in 2025, a year that amounted to a learning experience for the 23-year-old talent.

Sasaki struggled with control out of the gate for Los Angeles, and hitters pulverized many of his pitches that did drop into the zone, leading to a frustrating first 34 1/3 innings in which Sasaki accrued a 4.72 ERA and 6.20 FIP.

Durability issues followed the poor performances, with Sasaki landing on the 15-day IL in May with right shoulder impingement, an ailment that worsened and resulted in Sasaki being stowed away on the 60-day IL on June 20.

Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki is putting velocity concerns to bed in Triple-A

The main issue with Sasaki leading up to his IL stint was a drop in velocity. Sasaki’s fastball — capable of reaching triple digits consistently — had fallen to the low-to-mid 90s during his final starts before injury. Was Sasaki’s shoulder the cause of his drop in velo, or was there a deeper, more problematic factor involved? This was the question on the minds of various Dodgers observers, and Sasaki didn’t make anyone feel much better about his velocity during his initial rehab starts. Sasaki’s fastball failed to reach the upper-90s in all of his first four rehab starts, in which he tallied a 7.02 ERA.

Sasaki might be turning the corner, however. On Thursday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets, Sasaki threw a scoreless inning in relief. He followed that up with another on Sunday.

Sasaki struck out two batters, walked one, and most importantly, hit the upper 90s and even triple digits on his fastball once again. On Sunday, he sat 97-98 and logged an easy 1-2-3 inning. Though brief, the outings were a reminder of what Sasaki can be when he’s at full strength.

The next question for the Dodgers now becomes, should Sasaki factor into the team’s postseason plans … as a reliever?

Dave Roberts hasn’t ruled out the possibility, although it appears the Dodgers are going to wait until early next week to make a decision about Sasaki as it concerns the playoff roster.

Los Angeles had already found a clever way to extend Sasaki’s rehab assignment in the first place, and it appears to have benefited the right-hander. Ultimately, the main message here is that Dodgers fans don’t need to panic about Sasaki. The hype was out of control to begin the season, and he’s still an incredibly young player who might still positively contribute when it matters most in 2025.