There’s determined, and there’s determined to the place you’re searching for Roki Sasaki to be the reply to your staff’s late-inning issues.
The identical Roki Sasaki who hasn’t pitched in a serious league recreation in additional than 4 months due to shoulder issues.
The identical Roki Sasaki who posted a 4.72 earned-run common in eight begins.
The identical Roki Sasaki who final week within the minors pitched as a reliever for the primary time.
The Dodgers’ exploration of Sasaki as a late-inning choice is a mirrored image of the 23-year-old rookie’s upside, however this isn’t a commentary of Sasaki as a lot as it’s of the roster.
The staff’s bullpen issues have continued into the ultimate week of the common season, and the potential options sound like miracles, beginning with Sasaki’s audition for a postseason function as a reliever.
Sasaki pitched twice in reduction for triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis, touching 100 mph in a scoreless inning on Thursday and retiring the facet on Sunday.
Supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned Sasaki would rejoin the Dodgers for his or her upcoming highway sequence towards the Arizona Diamondbacks. The earliest Sasaki could be obtainable to pitch could be on Wednesday.
With solely six video games remaining within the common season, Sasaki figures to pitch not more than twice for the Dodgers earlier than the playoffs. That being the case, do the Dodgers plan to make use of him in high-leverage conditions to find out how he performs in late-inning conditions?
“We’re still trying to win games, and this would be his third outing in the ‘pen, first in the big leagues, so not sure,” Roberts mentioned.
Then once more, what’s the choice? Proceed to expire Blake Treinen?
Essentially the most reliable reliever on the Dodgers’ World Sequence run final season, the 37-year-old Treinen was re-signed to a two-year, $22-million contract over the winter. He missed greater than three months of this season with a forearm pressure and hasn’t rediscovered the shape that made him a postseason hero. Treinen is 1-7 with a 5.55 earned-run common for the season and has taken a loss in 5 of his final seven video games.
Treinen value the Dodgers one other recreation on Sunday when he inherited a 1-0 lead, solely to surrender three runs within the eighth inning of an eventual 3-1 defeat.
Roberts was booed when he emerged from the dugout to take away Treinen, however whom did the followers need the supervisor to name on to pitch that inning as an alternative?
Tanner Scott?
Kirby Yates?
Alex Vesia is probably the most reliable bullpen arm, but when he pitched the eighth inning, who would have pitched the ninth?
Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen, proper, reacts after giving up a bases-loaded stroll in a 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
Roberts acknowledged he was mainly diminished to holding out hope that when the postseason begins Treinen would magically revert to being the pitcher he was final yr.
Wouldn’t or not it’s unsettling to should rely on Treinen with out seeing him pitch higher within the common season?
“Certainly, I’d like to see some more consistent performance,” Roberts mentioned. “But at the end of the day, there’s going to be certain guys that I feel that we’re going to go to in leverage [situations] and certain guys we’re not going to.”
Evidently, Treinen continues to be considered as a leverage-situation pitcher.
Roberts mentioned: “My trust in him is unwavering.”
There aren’t many different selections.
Possibly Will Klein, who was referred to as up from the minors for the third time final week. Klein struck out the facet on Saturday and gave up a leadoff double in a scoreless inning on Sunday.
Possibly Brock Stewart, who has been sidelined with shoulder issues for almost all of the time since he was acquired on the commerce deadline. Stewart will rejoin the Dodgers in Arizona.
Or possibly Emmet Sheehan or Clayton Kershaw, who’re anticipated to be pushed out of the postseason rotation by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Sheehan began on Sunday and pitched seven scoreless innings.
The playoff image is unlikely to vary for the Dodgers between now and the top of the common season, as they’re 4 video games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the No. 2 seed within the Nationwide League and three video games forward of the second-place San Diego Padres within the NL West. Nonetheless, Roberts mentioned he was uncertain of how high-leverage innings over the subsequent week could be allotted, which spoke to the diploma of uncertainty concerning the bullpen. Ought to these innings be used to straighten out previously-successful relievers reminiscent of Treinen and Scott? Or to experiment with unknown commodities reminiscent of Sasaki and Klein?
Simply a few weeks in the past, the door for Sasaki pitching within the playoffs was locked and bolted. The Dodgers have been rocked by the dreadful efficiency of their bullpen, a lot so {that a} door that was as soon as slammed shut is now extensive open.
