Dodgers place Roki Sasaki on injured list

The Dodgers announced they’ve placed Roki Sasaki on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder impingement. Reliever J.P. Feyereisen was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the vacated roster spot.

Manager Dave Roberts said earlier this evening that Sasaki reported some arm discomfort after his start on Friday. The Diamondbacks tagged him for five runs on as many hits and a pair of walks over four innings. Sasaki didn’t record a single strikeout and only induced four whiffs. He now carries a 4.72 earned run average through his first eight big league starts. He has fanned only 15.6% of opponents while issuing walks at an untenable 14.3% rate.

It’s clearly not the manner in which Sasaki envisioned beginning his major league tenure. Of the 133 pitchers who have logged at least 30 innings, only San Diego’s Randy Vásquez has a worse strikeout/walk rate difference. The 23-year-old Sasaki was dominant over his four seasons in NPB, posting a 2.10 ERA with a near-33% strikeout rate. He remains one of the sport’s most talented young pitchers even though his stateside debut hasn’t gone as planned so far.

Sasaki’s injury history was the only knock against his time in Japan. He never reached 130 innings in an NPB season. He was limited to 18 starts and 111 frames last season. Sasaki missed time with an oblique tear and reportedly battled shoulder fatigue in 2024. The Dodgers haven’t provided a timeline for his return.

Roberts said tonight that Clayton Kershaw will return to the rotation on Saturday. He’ll join Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Landon Knack in the starting five. Sasaki was scheduled to take the ball on Thursday, though the Dodgers could turn to May on four days rest after the team’s off day yesterday. Gonsolin would also be on four days rest for Friday’s start before Kershaw’s activation.