Roki Sasaki (blister) to pitch versus Padres

Sasaki has struck out six over three scoreless innings since coming off the IL prior to Tuesday’s game. He averaged 99.2 mph and topped out at 100.4 mph with his seven fastballs today. Based on Evan Phllips’ improvement and the very recent results from Sasaki and Edwin Díaz, things seem to be looking up for the Dodgers pen.

Sasaki is expected to operate as a one-inning reliever during Tuesday’s series opener against the Padres. The 24-year-old former starter is ostensibly auditioning for a spot in the Dodgers’ bullpen for their upcoming playoff run during the final week of the season after missing a couple weeks with a blister issue. He can be safely dropped in nearly all redraft fantasy leagues.

The original plan was for Sasaki to go long as either a starter or a bulk guy, but now it looks like this might be more of a traditional relief outing to get him ready for coming out of the pen in October. It’ll be Sasaki’s first appearance since he went on the IL with a finger blister at the end of August.

The team is “hoping this will be the last check mark in his recovery from a blister,” which means he could be activated as soon as this weekend. As of now, it remains unclear if the Dodgers will put him back in rotation or shift him to the bullpen once he’s activated

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sasaki will not be activated from the injured list this week. The widely-held expectation was that Sasaki would return to Los Angeles’ rotation later this week, especially after they sent down Emmet Sheehan following a pair of strong outings. Clearly, the Dodgers don’t want to take any chances that he suffers any sort of physical setback as he returns from a blister issue. It sounds like he’ll be ready to pitch in the postseason, possibly as a reliever like he did last postseason, but his odds of making it back before the regular season concludes appear very slim.

It’s a tough break for fantasy managers hoping to see Sheehan take the ball against the Giants later this week. The 26-year-old righty posted five strikeouts over six scoreless frames in a no-decision against the Marlins on Sunday. He allowed just one run over 11 2/3 frames in a pair of starts after returning to the majors back on September 7. It appears that his rotation spot will be going to Roki Sasaki (blister) in a couple days. The Dodgers also have former Royals starter Kris Bubic joining their pitching equation later this week.

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.