CINCINNATI –– Even after watching Roki Sasaki complete the final checkmark in his recovery from a blister on Wednesday afternoon, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts couldn’t say for sure how the team would use the 24-year-old phenom pitcher.
All year, it seemed clear that Sasaki was destined to wind up back in the Dodgers bullpen, reprising the late-inning leverage role he unexpectedly ascended to as a rookie last October.
Though he had turned a corner as a starter during the second half of this campaign, posting a 2.31 ERA in his first six outings after the All-Star break, he had still long looked like a superfluous piece of the Dodgers’ rotation, an excess arm stuck behind the four veteran superstars the club had penciled in to lead this fall’s World Series push.
However, Roberts remained non-committal about Sasaki’s plan on Wednesday, after the right-hander completed a four-inning, 48-pitch session of live batting practice in Cincinnati, in what was hoped to be his final step before returning from the injured list.
On the one hand, the skipper noted, the Dodgers could shift Sasaki to the bullpen now, give him time to re-acclimate to relief duties, and let him focus on just short-burst stints.
But on the other, “one can argue it’s best to [let him] take down a couple starts and keep him built up,” Roberts countered. “Because if something does happen, then he is built up.”
Hours later, the something Roberts was worried about might have suddenly happened –– with Blake Snell’s groin injury having direct repercussions on Sasaki’s potential task.
In Wednesday night’s game, Snell left his start after just one inning because of left groin tightness. While he’s hopeful he avoided any serious injury, he has had bouts of groin issues in the past that have sidelined him for up to a month at a time.
If that were to be the case again now, Sasaki would be first in line to replace Snell in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation.
Mix in the uncertainty surrounding fellow starter Tyler Glasnow faced following his four-inning outing last weekend in Miami –– after which he conspicuously returned immediately to Los Angeles to limit extra travel on the rest of this road trip –– and Sasaki now seems like a valuable starting-pitching insurance policy the Dodgers might still need to utilize in the playoffs.
That’s why, by the end of Wednesday’s game, Roberts was able to at least be definitive about the team’s plan for Sasaki when he comes off the injured list, confirming he is likely to make a start sometime next week, perhaps during a visit from the San Diego Padres.
In a best-case scenario, that will be Sasaki’s last time starting a game this year, with an otherwise healthy rotation allowing the Dodgers to shift him to an equally banged-up bullpen.
But for now, the team can’t be certain of anything.
Which means, when it comes to Sasaki, all options remain on the table.
