Roberts: Roki Sasaki heading to IL with blister

The 24-year-old right-hander has been shelved since late August due to a blister on his right middle finger. he faced live hitters in a simulated game on Wednesday though and it sounds like he’s ready to return. Before landing on the injured list, Sasaki had posted a 4.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and a 117/48 K/BB ratio over 119 1/3 innings in 23 starts for the Dodgers.

Sasaki threw multiple innings during the up-and-down session, which puts him on track to jump back into Los Angeles’ rotation at some point early next week. The 24-year-old hit the injured list with a right middle finger blister in late August.

Sasaki hit the injured list with a blister on his right middle finger roughly two weeks ago. It sounds like the issue has resolved itself to the point that he’ll be able to take the ball again for the final two weeks of the season.

Sasaki was pulled from Wednesday’s start against the Braves after the blister issue cropped up. No word yet on how long he’ll be shelved for, but he’ll miss at least one trip through the Dodgers’ rotation. Eric Lauer will move back from the bullpen to take his place in the club’s six-man rotation for the time being.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sasaki’s splitter did most of the work tonight. He threw it 37 times in the 90-pitch outing and got 10 whiffs and four strikeouts with it. Meanwhile, it produced no hits or hard-hit balls the seven times it was put into play. Sasaki remains rather difficult to trust, but this makes four solid outings in a row, and with arguably baseball’s best team backing him, he’s not a bad play in shallow leagues at the moment. He’ll likely pitch in Chicago against the Cubs next Wednesday, though it’s possible he could be pushed to Friday in Arizona instead.

This was one of those starts where you could see how sky-high Sasaki’s potential still is. He was back to buzzing 99 and 100 mph fastballs over the first few innings and commanded it exceptionally well on the edges of the plate. That set up his splitter to terrorize the Mets hitters. In total, it forced 15 whiffs – by far the most it has in a single game so far this season – and a nearly 50% chase rate. It was simply diabolical and so effective that it morphed into his primary pitch during his second and third trips around the Mets’ lineup. It was also the first time in his career that he completed seven innings against a team that isn’t the Angels. This is now back-to-back lights out starts by Sasaki out of the All-Star break and it might finally be time to take him seriously. Next up is a matchup against the Mariners at home.