The clock is ticking on a Roki Sasaki decision, but Dodgers still don't have answers

Roki Sasaki pitched his fourth rehab start in Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, and he checked off a key item on the Dodgers' to-do list for him by finally reaching five innings of work, but that was pretty much the only promising thing about that appearance.

With two outs in the first inning, the rest of it went as follows: hit by pitch, homer, walk, homer. He leveled out from there and only gave up one other single and a walk, but he only struck out two batters and only generated eight swings-and-misses on 69 pitches.

Dave Roberts had no answers for the media when asked about Sasaki's future in the majors this season, stating, "Guys here are pitching well. I'm not sure what that means for Roki after this one. Let's just get through this one. Pitch well, (be) healthy and then we'll make a decision."

Sasaki seems healthy, but he's not pitching well, and the Dodgers are going to need to make a decision soon. He reaches the maximum amount of time he can spend in a rehab assignment on Sept. 12, and at that point the Dodgers are going to have to decide who to sacrifice in order to clear a roster spot for him on the 28-man — or leave him down in the minors.

Roki Sasaki has to be back in the majors by Sept. 12, but Dodgers have no incentive to bring him back

The Triple-A season is over on Sept. 21, and the Comets won't be competing for the Triple-A Championship, so optioning Sasaki to the minors after his rehab stint would be virtually the same as ending his season altogether. The Dodgers probably want to give him as many chances in competition as possible, but would they really consider sending down a more proven arm just to get one of their golden boys back?

The bullpen carousel has mostly slowed to a stop since Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates came back from the IL. The Dodgers could option Justin Wrobleski or Edgardo Henriquez for Sasaki, but both have been generally more solid in the majors than Sasaki has in Triple-A.

Even if they do bring Sasaki back with two weeks left in the regular season, there are no promises that he'll pitch in the postseason. He looks far more likely to not be included on any of the Dodgers' October rosters with the way he's been pitching.

It might be time for the Dodgers to admit that Sasaki needs to do a lot more work before he'll be a viable major league starter. They were willing to keep Hyeseong Kim in Triple-A for almost two months at the beginning of this year, and there's no reason Sasaki should be getting special treatment when his performance on the field doesn't measure up and the Dodgers don't actually need him.