Roki Sasaki was back on the mound at Dodger Stadium this week and will be taking another step next week.
The Los Angeles Dodgers rookie threw a three-inning simulated game before Friday's game, with 46 pitchers against outfielder Alex Call and some of the team's minor leaguers. Per Dodger Blue, his fastball velocity reached 96-97 mph, with some 95 mph pitches as well.
A day later, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Sasaki would begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, with a target of three innings.
Sasaki has been on the injured list since mid-May with a right-shoulder impingement. It was unclear if he would pitch again this season, but he's now trending toward a return later this month.
Roberts said after the sim game that Sasaki's delivery as looking cleaner, while also noting that he was still figuring some things out:
He's more physical, I know he's gained some weight. The throw wasn't as shoulder-y, I think it's a little bit more clean. He was still kind of searching, as far as asking the pitching coaches and things, and that's what people do. We're waiting for him to get to a point where he feels really comfortable and confident in his delivery and where he’s at, so he can attack the hitters. We're not there yet, but I thought for a three-inning situation, solid.”
Roberts also said Sasaki's next step would depend on how he felt after the sim game. He apparently checked that box enough that the team was comfortable beginning his rehab assignment.
Sasaki joined the Dodgers last offseason as one of the most-hyped young arms in recent memory and the NL Rookie of the Year favorite, but the results lagged far behind the expectations in his first eight starts with the team.
Beyond the question of when he comes back is how different of a pitcher he will be. He had two major problems in his first run: an enormous lack of control and a fastball that hitters crushed when he did manage to land it in the zone (they slugged .494 against it in total). His 14.3% walk rate would be the worst of any qualified pitcher in MLB this season, and his 15.6% strikeout rate would be the fourth-worst.
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At an average of 96.0 mph, Sasaki's fastball wasn't nearly the triple-digit monster he showed back in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he threw 26 of his 29 fastballs for at least 100 mph. His velocity was trending down when he was pitching as well, with an average of 94.8 mph in his last two starts.
This has been a concern for Sasaki for a while, as his velocity was diminished in Japan last year and he reportedly asked every team interested in him why they thought that happened. He will almost certainly be trying to throw harder when he comes back, and he will also reportedly be throwing a new fastball.
As Roberts said Thursday, Sasaki has spent some of his rehab time working on a two-seam fastball:
“I think it’s probably a combination of the pitching coaches, probably watching Shohei [Ohtani], probably watching Major League hitters,” Roberts said. “To have two separate fastballs, one that potentially could miss a bit and one that could put a ball on the ground, those are two good weapons.
“I appreciate that Roki is open to the two-seamer as well.”
Sasaki has a fairly limited arsenal, with a four-seamer, slider and his famous splitter, which remained effective during his struggles. We'll see if he's ready to deploy it in games as he nears a return, and if it's the missing piece that could unlock his still sky-high potential.
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