Sasaki taking next step in rehab: No shoulder pain

LOS ANGELES --- Roki Sasaki, finally ramping up after spending the past three months on the injured list, said Tuesday he had "no pain" in his right shoulder and expressed confidence in his ability to regain fastball velocity, which began to tail off before he was shut down.

"I feel better about being able to throw harder, especially because I'm completely pain free," Sasaki said through an interpreter. "With that being said, I do have to just face live hitters and see how my mechanics, you know, hold. Just being consistent; being able to do that consistently."

Sasaki is scheduled to pitch three simulated innings at Dodger Stadium over the weekend before going on a rehab assignment. The Dodgers will stretch Sasaki back out as a starting pitcher. How he eventually fits in, though, remains to be seen.

The Dodgers' rotation is currently full, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow back healthy, Shohei Ohtani stretched out to at least four innings, and Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan making up the other three spots of a six-man rotation.

Asked if he could eventually see Sasaki occupying a bullpen spot, specifically in October, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said: "I'm going to hold on that one. I do know we're going to take the 13 best pitchers. I've been a part of many postseason rosters, so we're going to take the 13 best pitchers. If Roki is a part of that in some capacity, then that would be great. And if he's not, then he won't be."

Before that is even entertained, Sasaki simply has to perform better.

The 23-year-old right-hander arrived in the major leagues after being one of the most hyped pitchers to come out of Japan, armed with a triple-digit fastball and a mind-bending splitter. But evaluators throughout the industry also acknowledged he still needed more seasoning. That wound up being the case early, even more so than many anticipated.

Through his first eight starts, before landing on the IL with what the Dodgers described as a shoulder impingement, Sasaki posted a 4.72 ERA and failed to complete six innings on seven occasions. In a stretch of 34⅓ innings, he walked almost as many batters (22) as he struck out (24). The four-seam fastball, which often lacked command, fell into the mid-90s over his last handful of outings. Often, the splitter functioned as his only legitimate major league pitch.

Sasaki acknowledged that "American hitters have a different approach at the plate compared to Japanese hitters."

"I can't really attack the same way that I used to in Japan," he added.

With that in mind, Sasaki has begun to experiment with a two-seam fastball, a pitch that runs in on opposing right-handed hitters and is designed to generate early contact, ideally ground balls. The hope is that it eventually functions as a second fastball to pair with his splitter and slider.

The focus at this point, though, is on nailing down the mechanics of his delivery so that his shoulder no longer becomes an issue. Sasaki said he now has "a better understanding a second time through on where the pain came from and how to make sure that the pain doesn't come back." His mechanics are "not 100 percent right now," Sasaki added, "but I think it's in the right direction."

When he returns, Sasaki will have to prove he belongs.

"My every intention is to get back on the major league mound and pitch again," he said. "With that being said, you know ... I do need to fight for the opportunity, too. I don't think that I'll just be given the opportunity right away."