Dodgers place Roki Sasaki (blister) on 15-day IL

Roberts added that Eric Lauer will take Sasaki’s spot in the rotation. The 24-year-old was removed from Wednesday’s start against the Braves after 3 1/3 innings due to a significant blister that cropped up unexpectedly on his right middle finger. He’s going to miss at least one turn through the rotation and could wind up sidelined until mid-September.

Sasaki departed with one out in the fourth inning after throwing 66 pitches (42 strikes). He was charged with four runs on six hits, including a solo homer by Matt Olson. He struck out three and issued two walks. The 24-year-old hasn’t dealt with blister issues this season, which means that his exit was likely precautionary. There should be an update on his status in the coming days. His next start will be against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

With Tyler Glasnow back and Shohei Ohtani nearing a return as well, there simply isn’t room to keep the 31-year-old southpaw in the club’s six-man rotation. He’ll be available out of the bullpen beginning on Tuesday.

It’s the fourth straight outing in which he’s allowed exactly two runs, and he has a 2.31 ERA over his last six starts. Sasaki left with a two-run led tonight, but since it didn’t hold up, he remains 5-5 through 22 starts. He’ll likely pitch in Atlanta next week, making him a mediocre play in mixed leagues.

Lauer surrendered a run in the first inning on a pair of hits. The Rockies brought two more runs in to score in the third on a walk and two doubles. After a clean fourth, Willi Castro took Lauer deep for a solo homer in the fifth. His day would be done after five frames at 87 pitches. He struck out six. The 31-year-old left-hander will take a 4.79 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and a 69/32 K/BB ratio across 103 1/3 innings into a start against the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Sasaki issued five walks, including three in the Brewers’ two-run fourth inning, and gave up 13 hard-hit balls on the night, but he did finish rather strong. This makes five straight starts in which he’s allowed two runs or fewer and gotten at least 16 outs. He’ll look to keep that going in Coors Field against the Rockies next week.

Glasnow will have a rehab start on Friday and another after that, likely on next Wednesday, before being a candidate to come off the injured list. That would put him on track to start in the big leagues during the last week of August against the Braves or Tigers. Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer are candidates to move to the bullpen when Glasnow returns.

Lauer allowed just four hits, and he struck out a solid six against two walks. It’s a vast improvement — albeit against a vastly worse team — than his six runs on 11 hits against the Cubs, and more inline with how Lauer has pitched since being acquired by the Dodgers from Toronto. The southpaw seems likely to give up his rotation spot at some point, but for now, he’s scheduled to face the Rockies in Colorado next week.

Sasaki is three outs shy of having turned in five quality starts in a row; he allowed one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings on July 17 and two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings last time out. Still, he’s allowed a total of eight earned runs in 30 innings in his last five starts. He still needs to prove he can keep it going, but this is the pitcher the Dodgers thought they were signing two years ago. He’ll face the Brewers next week.

Even though they have Thursday off, the Dodgers didn’t get aggressive in removing Lauer today; he was allowed to give up five straight hits and three runs with two outs in the fourth inning. The Dodgers offense almost left him off the hook by scoring five times to close within one run in the eighth, but it went as his first loss for the team; he’s now 5-1 with a 3.72 ERA in 55 2/3 innings since being sent off by the Blue Jays. Lauer should start again Tuesday against the Royals, but that might be his last turn for a while with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow on the way back.