The Dodgers’ Pitching Crisis Deepens as Sasaki Heads to Injured List
The Los Angeles Dodgers lost yet another arm from their rotation Tuesday when Roki Sasaki landed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement.
J.P. Feyereisen got the call-up as Sasaki’s replacement, though Clayton Kershaw will effectively take Sasaki’s spot when he makes his season debut Saturday.
“Physically, he was a little bit sore afterwards,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained about Sasaki’s last start. “And that’s something that we’re still kind of trying to figure out. What’s normal, what’s kind of not normal.”
The warning signs have been there for weeks.
Sasaki, just 23, has been steadily losing zip on his fastball all season—a classic red flag for shoulder problems. His heater averaged an impressive 98.1 mph in his MLB debut but dropped to just 94.8 mph in Friday’s start against Arizona. At times, his velocity dipped as low as 92 mph.
The results haven’t been great either. In eight starts, Sasaki has struggled to a 4.72 ERA with more walks (22) than strikeouts (24) in 34 1/3 innings.
Even when he was throwing hard, hitters weren’t missing his fastball. Batters whiffed on just 10.1% of swings against Sasaki’s heater—less than half the league average of 21.3% for four-seamers.
The kid clearly has some adjustments to make.
The injury bug has absolutely ravaged the Dodgers’ rotation. Including Kershaw and Sasaki, they now have nine starting pitchers on the injured list. Nine!
Their current pitching depth chart looks something like this:
1. Shohei Ohtani (rehabbing from elbow surgery)
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
3. Blake Snell (out with shoulder inflammation)
4. Tyler Glasnow (out with shoulder inflammation)
5. Clayton Kershaw (returning Saturday)
6. Roki Sasaki (out with shoulder impingement)
7. Dustin May
8. Tony Gonsolin
9. Gavin Stone (will miss 2025 with shoulder surgery)
10. Landon Knack
11. Bobby Miller
12. Justin Wrobleski
13. River Ryan (will miss 2025 with Tommy John surgery)
14. Emmet Sheehan (will miss most of 2025 with Tommy John surgery)
15. Kyle Hurt (will miss most of 2025 with Tommy John surgery)
There is some good news on the horizon. Glasnow started throwing again last week and might throw a bullpen session during the current homestand. Snell has a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Tuesday.
Ohtani continues to throw off a mound, but the team is being extremely cautious with their $700 million man. There’s still no timeline for when he’ll face hitters or pitch in games.
The Dodgers have already used 11 different starting pitchers in just 41 games—tied for the most in baseball.
This is partly by design. The Dodgers treat the regular season almost like a dress rehearsal, with their eyes firmly fixed on October. Every pitching decision is made with the postseason in mind.
Despite the revolving door of pitchers, the Dodgers entered Tuesday with MLB’s best record at 27-14. But even for a team comfortable with injury risks, this many pitching casualties is pushing the limits of their impressive depth.
