The Los Angeles Dodgers placed right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki on the injured list Tuesday with a right shoulder impingement. Sasaki became the 14th Dodgers pitcher to land on the IL.
Read more: Dodgers Place Roki Sasaki on Injured List With Shoulder Injury
Sasaki joins Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Kyle Hurt, Michael Grove, and Edgardo Henriquez. With Shohei Ohtani not expected to take the mound until after the All-Star break, he is technically the 15th “injured” pitcher.
Kershaw is expected to return Saturday and make his first start of the 2025 season against the Los Angeles Angels. However, every other pitcher’s timeline to return remains uncertain.
In recent years, the Dodgers have dealt with injury woes to the pitching staff in particular. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman admitted the Dodgers’ injury history motivated the team’s aggressive approach last offseason.
Friedman added the Dodgers wanted to be “prepared as they could possibly be.” Less than two months into the season, the Dodgers have a total of 14 pitchers on the IL (15 with Ohtani).
The Dodgers entered the 2024 postseason with three starting pitchers and an overworked bullpen. While the situation in L.A. felt like bad luck, it’s evident that there is an extensive problem with the health of the Dodgers pitching staff as a collective.
Pitching coach Mark Prior discussed the difficulties of navigating the injury woes that have plagued L.A. in recent years.
“When they get here to this level, sometimes they get used in different roles, and they get taxed in different ways that they might not be accustomed to,” Prior said to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. “So that’s one thing that we’ve looked into, is trying to prepare, whether they’re completely relievers coming up, or they’re starters turned relievers. All those things matter, kind of like you’re on-ramping what it’s like.
“Because when you get up here, things change, and they change very drastically. A guy might be pitching every sixth day down there; all of a sudden, you’re expected to pitch multiple innings. … That takes time to acclimate, for your body to figure out, ‘How do I do this on a daily basis,’ not just that one time.”
Read more: Dodgers’ Mark Prior Opens Up on Process of Trying to Get Roki Sasaki on Track
Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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