Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki made his second rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday night as he works toward a return from a right shoulder impingement that has sidelined him for more than three months.
The 23-year-old, whom the Dodgers signed out of Japan this past offseason, gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking three and striking out two over 3 1/3 innings (60 pitches) against Tacoma.
In his first rehab outing with Oklahoma City last Thursday, Sasaki was unable to record an out in the third inning after throwing 41 pitches and yielding three runs on six hits. He walked one and did not strike out a batter. His velocity appeared to be down, with his fastball averaging 93.6 mph, but it was back up over 96 mph on Wednesday.
Prior to the injury, Sasaki posted a 4.72 ERA over his first eight Major League starts (6.18 FIP) with a 14.3 percent walk rate and a strikeout rate of 15.6 percent. The Dodgers are hoping not only to build up Sasaki’s workload during his rehab assignment, but also build up his confidence, something they felt was lacking in his first taste of MLB competition.
With other starters returning from injury and the Dodgers employing a six-man rotation, they can afford to have Sasaki spend more time rehabbing in order to meet those goals.
