Roki Sasaki isn't losing his job in the Dodgers ' rotation anytime soon.
But whether he can find his old self remains another, much more consequential question.
It was only a couple weeks ago that Sasaki seemed to be in survival mode — both on the mound and the Dodgers' roster.
The Dodgers will count on Roki Sasaki (11) even more now with key injuries affecting the starting rotation. AP
Early this year, he couldn't command his pitches. He wasn't getting deep into starts. And though he had managed to avoid many disasters, his place on the club seemed tenuous at best .
In recent weeks, however, circumstances have changed.
The Dodgers lost Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) and Blake Snell (loose bodies in his elbow) to the injured list. They went from having a looming rotation crunch (in which either Sasaki or Emmet Sheehan seemed likely to be demoted) to a sudden lack of big-league rotation depth.
Against that backdrop, Sasaki has also shown some encouraging signs. In each of his last three outings, he has pitched into the sixth inning. And while his ERA remains close to 6.00, he has been able to better attack the strike zone and cut down on his walks.
Early this year, he couldn't command his pitches. AP
Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has praised the progress he believes the supposed phenom is making. Sasaki said his last couple games are as good as he has felt all season.
Alas, the 24-year-old right-hander is still nowhere near where he wants to be.
"Not at all," he acknowledged in Japanese after a five-plus-inning, three-run start against the Giants last week. "I think I'm pretty far."
Such is the duality facing Sasaki ahead of his next outing on Sunday against the Angels and entering what figures to be a critical stretch of the season for himself and the team.
Sasaki is scheduled to make his next start Sunday against the Angels in Anaheim. AP
He has proved he can at least survive at the MLB level. He remains better than any currently available rotation alternative the Dodgers could turn to.
But becoming the Cy Young-caliber talent that he was billed as when he first arrived from Japan? That remains a long-term, and still uncertain, work in progress.
"To me, it feels as if I've already taken a lot of time," Sasaki said last week. "The situation has been painful … All I can do is aim for that and build toward it."
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The absence of Glasnow (who will be out for at least a couple more weeks) and Snell (who will likely be sidelined for the next 2-3 months ) means greater responsibility is set to fall to him; to pitch deeper into games, to do better at preventing runs, and to be more than someone simply trying to cling to a roster spot.
"Whether it comes right away or gradually is something I don't even know," Sasaki said. "I imagine what I want to be and work my way backward from that. If I stop that process, then it's over. As long as I have a chance, I have to continue to progress."
But becoming the Cy Young-caliber talent that he was billed as when he first arrived from Japan? That remains a long-term, and still uncertain, work in progress. Getty Images
The good news is that ingredients for such success have begun to show themselves. Sasaki has made significant strides with his fastball command over the last month, going from nearly seven walks per nine innings in his first three outings to just six total free passes in his last 20 ⅔ frames. The addition of a new, harder splitter to complement his trademark, but difficult-to-control, forkball has also been seen by club officials as a positive.
"Roki's certainly doing his part," Roberts said last week.
Sasaki's next challenge will be limiting hard contact (he has the fourth-highest home run rate among any pitcher with at least 30 innings this year) and maintaining his stuff deeper into starts (in two of his last three outings, he pushed into the sixth inning but was removed before recording another out).
If he does that, it could help alleviate the Dodgers' sudden injury problems and lessen the strain it figures to place on their bullpen.
If he can't, then his admittedly "painful" growth process will continue, at precisely the time the Dodgers need more out of him.
