Following up on a reported move after Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced that pitcher Roki Sasaki has been placed on the injured list due to a blister on his right middle finger.
Sasaki, 24, left Wednesday’s game in the fourth inning after walking Ozzie Albies, allowing a single to Mike Yastrzemski and an RBI sacrifice fly from Austin Riley, followed by a double to Sean Murphy. Trainer Thomas Albert came out to check on Sasaki and Edgardo Henriquez soon took over.
Altogether, Sasaki threw 12 pitches in the inning and 66 for the game. He finished with four runs, six hits and two walks allowed in 3 1/3 innings.
After the game, Sasaki explained through interpreter Kensuke Okubo that the blister developed without warning.
“When I was facing the first hitter in the fourth inning, I actually didn’t feel anything coming beforehand,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo afterward, via MLB.com.
“My skin just ripped off, and then after that, it got worse,” he added. “I thought I was able to manage at first because the skin was still there. But after that, it kept getting worse, and I think it affected my slider afterwards.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained that Sasaki had to go on the IL with the severity of the blister. But as Sasaki heals, the blister will be covered up so he can still throw. Sasaki currently has a 4.60 ERA in 23 starts with 117 strikeouts in 119 1/3 innings.
Eric Lauer (3.78 ERA in 13 games) is expected to take Sasaki’s turn in the rotation, while reliever Seth Halvorsen was recalled from Triple-A to fill his roster spot. Halvorsen, acquired from the Colorado Rockies two weeks before the MLB trade deadline, has a 0.93 ERA in 10 appearances with Oklahoma City, striking out 12.1 batters per nine innings.
Sasaki’s IL stint may be conveniently timed with Tyler Glasnow being activated to the roster on Tuesday and Blake Snell rejoining the rotation earlier this month. Shohei Ohtani could also make his pitching return on Sunday as an opener in front of Glasnow, depending on how he feels after throwing a bullpen session on Friday.
Otherwise, the Dodgers’ current rotation consists of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who starts on Thursday against the Braves. Tarik Skubal will follow on Friday, returning to Comerica Park to face the Detroit Tigers for the first time since he was traded on Aug. 2. And Snell is scheduled to pitch on Saturday.
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