When it comes to the Los Angeles Dodgers in September, no player was more surprising in a good way than rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki.
After beginning the regular season as a starting pitcher, Sasaki missed months with a shoulder impingement and looked like a long shot to see the mound once more at the professional level in 2025. And yet, after getting a few rehab starts in OKC to get his game back on track, Los Angeles decided to give him a shot coming out of the bullpen, placing the lifelong starter in reserve duty before watching him blossom in the role.
With the runway clear and a bullpen in desperate need of at least a few reliable options, Sasaki has appeared in two games as a middle reliever for the Dodgers down the stretch and has looked incredible in the role, striking out four of the seven batters he's faced while allowing just one hit on his 25 pitches thrown.
Discussing what he's seen from Sasaki and how it fits into the Dodgers' plans for the wild card round of the playoffs, skipper Dave Roberts revealed that while the playoff roster isn't set just yet, he believes the rookie pitcher has earned his trust and a spot on the lineup card.
“The way he threw, the big games he's pitched in before, that's something I can trust,” Dave Roberts said via Fabian Ardaya.
Considering just how, well, horribly the Dodgers' bullpen has performed since their high-water mark at the beginning of the summer, it makes sense that Sasaki turning in two innings of near-perfect baseball would be enough to instill confidence in the veteran skipper. With Emmet Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw also transitioning to the bullpen – though Kershaw won't be available until the Divisional Round after starting Game 162 – the addition of Sasaki might just be enough to fuel another parade through LA, assuming Blake Treinan, Ben Casparius, and Tanner Scott can all do their jobs too.
