The Los Angeles Dodgers were pretty quiet at the trade deadline, but that might be because they believed their best reinforcements were already on the roster.
Despite a severely depleted pitching staff, the front office only acquired middling reliever Brock Stewart as an external addition. Instead, it seems to be anticipating significant impacts as injured members of the team like Blake Snell and Tanner Scott return.
But one injured star, Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, is facing diminished expectations from the team as he struggles to adjust to Major League Baseball.
Though he was a highly coveted addition this past winter thanks to his elite status in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki struggled with command and diminished velocity in eight starts for the Dodgers before being placed on the injured list with a shoulder problem.
Sloter/Getty
“Back in January, the Dodgers’ acquisition of the Japanese phenom felt like a coup,” Jack Harris wrote for the Los Angeles Times. “The reality, to this point, has been nowhere near the expectation.”
Sasaki might have once seemed like a critical addition to a pitching staff that the Dodgers’ thought would carry them to the World Series. But given the injury struggles the rookie has endured already this season, manager Dave Roberts downplayed his importance to those goals.
Harris reported that Sasaki has another simulated game scheduled for this week and could go on a minor league rehab assignment after that. But as his young pitcher progresses toward a return, the Dodgers’ manager downplayed his expectations for Sasaki, telling Harris that he might shift to the bullpen by the end of the regular season. Roberts added that he would be content if Sasaki ends up missing the playoffs completely at this point.
“We’re gonna take the 13 best pitchers (into the playoffs),” Roberts said, per Harris. “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.”
Given the hype with which he began his MLB career, Sasaki missing the playoff roster would be a harsh disappointment. But now the Dodgers seem to be resetting their expectations and salvaging some hope that he will still be a worthy long-term investment for the team even if year one was a wash.
More MLB: Phillies’ 11-Year Veteran Has 6-Word Response To Fans Booing
