Concerning update on Roki Sasaki disclosed by Dodgers

Roki Sasaki’s start to the 2025 season has been filled with hiccups, and now he has suffered another setback. On Tuesday, the Dodgers announced that the rookie pitcher has been added to the injured list with shoulder impingement and will be sidelined for 15 days if nothing else goes wrong.

In addition, the Dodgers have recalled right-hander J.P. Feyereisen to take up Sasaki's spot on the roster.

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Doubts about Sasaki's velocity were raised after his latest outing on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where his fastball recorded 94.8 mph. In that game, he gave up five runs and five hits in four innings and recorded no strikeouts.

He did not attend Tuesday’s warmup sessions as manager Dave Roberts addressed the media about a possible IL stint. During the time of press conference, Roberts gave vague answers to questions about Sasaki’s injury.

“Physically, he was a little bit sore afterwards, and that's something that we're still kind of trying to figure out,” Dave Roberts said [at 5:37 - 6:04]. “You know, what's normal, what's kind of not normal. … We want to make sure that he's in a good spot, physically and mentally.”

Following Friday’s game, Roberts said that Sasaki felt soreness in his arm, but nothing could be said for sure prior to medical reports.

Sasaki, who was highly sought-after in the offseason, has had a rough start to his rookie season. In eight starts, he is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA.

His splitter and fastball have shown a recent drop in velocity. His physical concerns may be part of the reason why, and the team hopes to get to the bottom of it soon.

Roki Sasaki joins Dodgers' key players on IL

Roki Sasaki will join a long list of Dodgers players currently on the IL recuperating from injuries. Some of the notable names are Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Blake Treinen, among many.

One piece of good news for the team, however, is that Clayton Kershaw is set to pitch for the first time in the 2025 season. He is scheduled to make his return in the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

About the author

Kaushani Chatterjee is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda with a Master's in English and over 4 years of experience at publications such as FirstSportz.

Kaushani 's favorite teams are the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. She is a fan of Yankees as a group, their star power and their history oozes class. As for the Dodgers, Kaushani likes Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

She started watching the MLB during her school years and developed a keen interest in the sport. Now she is hooked.

Kaushani's hobbies include guitar, sketching, watching anime (tons of them), listening to music, and watching Asian dramas (Korean/Thai in general).

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Edited by Brad Taningco