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In what seems like it's been a theme for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the past several seasons, the injury bug has once again bitten the Dodgers pitching staff.
Both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are on the injured list and expected to miss significant amount of time, and now another arm will be joining them. Right-hander Roki Sasaki, the big offseason acquisition for Los Angeles, has been placed on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury.
Sasaki was the most coveted pitcher on the free agent market and eventually signed a minor league deal with Los Angeles that was worth just $760,000 with a $6.5 million signing bonus.
Sasaki has struggled a bit during his first season in MLB, as he has a 4.72 ERA, 22 walks and just 24 strikeouts across eight starts and 34 1/3 innings. Sasaki has allowed 11 runs over his last three starts after allowing just seven over his first five.
Manager Dave Roberts spoke to the media and said that Sasaki has no timetable for return and the team will give him as much time as he needs to get back to 100%.
"I think that our goal is to get him healthy, get him strong," Roberts said, per Blake Royer of the Los Angeles Times. "Make sure his delivery is sound for him to pitch for us. Now with the information we've learned, he hasn't been as productive as he would've liked because he was compromised."
Sasaki's injury has opened the door for the season debut of Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw will make his debut on Saturday, and he is expected to take Sasaki's place in the rotation.
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Andrew Wright is a Newsweek contributor based in Lancaster, South Carolina. His focus is MLB content. Andrew has been with ... Read more