Dodgers’ Potential Free Agent Target Leaves Game With Injury
With one out in the second inning of Thursday’s game between the Lotte Marines and Nippon-Ham Fighters, potential free agent target Roki Sasaki took a smash off his left ankle and was forced to leave the game.
As the Dodgers and the rest of the baseball world waits to see whether Sasaki tests the international free agent market this off-season, any game-ending injury raises eyebrows across the Pacific.
Sasaki left for treatment and returned to the mound to make some practice tosses. Fortunately, the injury did not appear that serious, but he was still removed from the game.
After the game, Manager Masato Yoshii revealed that the ball hit the Achilles tendon of Sasaki’s pivot foot, and explained, “There is a possibility that he could be seriously injured when he runs, so the trainer decided to take him off the mound.”
Yoshii also told reporters after the game that he isn’t sure when Sasaki will pitch again.
“I won’t know until I see how he goes,” the manager added after the game.
The 22-year-old pitcher, who could move to Major League Baseball next season, became a sensation during his second season in the Nippon Professional Baseball league with the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines. Then, he pitched the 16th perfect game in Japanese history while striking out 19. Just a week later, he was pulled after eight innings of perfection because of his limited pitch count.
Sasaki would be following in the footsteps of current Los Angeles Dodgers players Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto who began their careers in Japan’s NPB before moving to North America to play in Major League Baseball.
“He is one of the pitchers that Japan is proud of,” Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama said through a translator at the World Baseball Classic in 2023. “This year and then next year is going to be a very critical year for him.”
“Next year” is now, and Sasaki is continuing to turn heads despite a couple of injuries. He is 6-3 with an earned run average of 2.20. He has struck out 82 batters and only walked 20 in 69.2 innings of work.
Because he is younger than 25, his first MLB contract would be relatively small compared to Yamamoto’s. He has also not played six years professionally, which means he is subject to MLB’s international amateur signing bonus limitations. That would limit him initially to a minor league contract and the associated bonus.
Whether Thursday’s injury lingers, or ultimately plays a part in his decision to leave NPB this winter, remains to be seen.
Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!
THE VECCHIO FACTOR SAYS…says:
08/15/2024 at 5:09 PM
THE DODGERS’ ARE FLAILING, AND WITHOUT SOLID PITCHING FROM HEALTHY STARTERS & RELIEVERS, THEY ALSO ARE FAILING! WE KNOW DODGERS’ NATION DOESN’T WANT TO HEAR THIS, BUT WE SAID THEY WOULDN’T WIN THE WORLD SERIES THIS YEAR, MIGHT NOT WIN THEIR DIVISION, AND COULD MISS THE PLAYOFFS ALTOGETHER. THE PADRES AND D-BACKS ARE RUNNING THEM DOWN, & IF THEY DO, PERHAPS OWNERSHIP WILL GET SMART & DUMP LA’S FRONT OFFICE BASEBALL HONCHOS, WHO CAN’T SEEM TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER TO WIN WORLD SERIES TITLES. SOMETHING IS MISSING BECAUSE THEY DO HAVE TALENT, BUT.HOW MANY MORE YEARS ARE LOYAL DODGERS’ FANS SUPPOSED TO WAIT TO WIN IT ALL AGAIN? FACT: THE DODGERS’ FRANCHISE HAS WON ONLY ONE, YES, ONLY ONE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP IN 36 YEARS! AND THAT’S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
WE’VE TOLD YOU, WINNING STARTS AT THE TOP, AND LA DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT BASEBALL PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE BASEBALL OPERATION TO WIN MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS! WE BELIEVE IF THEY DON’T WIN IT ALL THIS YEAR, THE DODGERS’ BASEBALL DIRECTION, OPERATIONALLY, MUST BE REPLACED BY EXPERIENCED, KNOWLEDGEABLE BASEBALL PERSONNEL…AND NOT WALL ST, HEDGE FUND, MONEY MANAGERS!! MARC WOLTER MUST CLEAN HOUSE, AND THAT INCLIDES MR. ROGERS, THE SCOUTMASTER, DAVE ROBERTS, WHO IS A WONDEFUL GUY, BUT NOT POSSESSING THE RIGHT ‘VOICE,’ NOR THE STRATEGIC GAME SMARTS, TO BE THE FIELD MANAGER. BY THE WAY, WHO IS GM GOMES? WHAT ARE HIS QUALIFICATIONS? EVER NOTICE WHEN HE TALKS, HE USES THE SAME HIGHER, ACCENTUATED INFLECTION, AT THE END OF SENTENCES…JUST LIKE HIS BOSS ANDREW FRIEDMAN! IF THE DODGER FLAME OUT AGAIN THIS YEAR, CHANGES SURELY MUST BE MADE. THERE’S 6 WEEKS, AND COUNTING, UNTIL THE REGULAR SEASON ENDS; THERE PITCHING STAFF IS WOEFUL, HANGING ON BY A THREAD, AND BOBBY MILLER IS NOT THEIR SAVIOUR!
NEW RESPONSE WITH CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS
THE VECCHIO FACTOR SAYS…says:
08/15/2024 at 5:09 PM
THE DODGERS’ ARE FLAILING, AND WITHOUT SOLID PITCHING FROM HEALTHY STARTERS & RELIEVERS, THEY ALSO ARE FAILING! WE KNOW DODGERS’ NATION DOESN’T WANT TO HEAR THIS, BUT WE SAID THEY WOULDN’T WIN THE WORLD SERIES THIS YEAR, MIGHT NOT WIN THEIR DIVISION, AND COULD MISS THE PLAYOFFS ALTOGETHER. THE PADRES AND D-BACKS ARE RUNNING THEM DOWN, & IF THEY DO, PERHAPS OWNERSHIP WILL GET SMART & DUMP LA’S FRONT OFFICE BASEBALL HONCHOS, WHO CAN’T SEEM TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER TO WIN WORLD SERIES TITLES. SOMETHING IS MISSING BECAUSE THEY DO HAVE TALENT, BUT.HOW MANY MORE YEARS ARE LOYAL DODGERS’ FANS SUPPOSED TO WAIT TO WIN IT ALL AGAIN? FACT: THE DODGERS’ FRANCHISE HAS WON ONLY ONE, YES, ONLY ONE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP IN 36 YEARS! AND THAT’S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
WE’VE TOLD YOU, WINNING STARTS AT THE TOP, AND LA DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT BASEBALL PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE BASEBALL OPERATION TO WIN MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS! WE BELIEVE IF THEY DON’T WIN IT ALL THIS YEAR, THE DODGERS’ BASEBALL DIRECTION, OPERATIONALLY, MUST BE REPLACED BY EXPERIENCED, KNOWLEDGEABLE BASEBALL PERSONNEL…AND NOT WALL ST, HEDGE FUND, MONEY MANAGERS!! MARC WOLTER MUST CLEAN HOUSE, AND THAT INCLIDES MR. ROGERS, THE SCOUTMASTER, DAVE ROBERTS, WHO IS A WONDEFUL GUY, BUT NOT POSSESSING THE RIGHT ‘VOICE,’ NOR THE STRATEGIC GAME SMARTS, TO BE THE FIELD MANAGER. BY THE WAY, WHO IS GM GOMES? WHAT ARE HIS QUALIFICATIONS? EVER NOTICE WHEN HE TALKS, HE USES THE SAME HIGHER, ACCENTUATED INFLECTION, AT THE END OF SENTENCES…JUST LIKE HIS BOSS ANDREW FRIEDMAN! IF THE DODGER FLAME OUT AGAIN THIS YEAR, CHANGES SURELY MUST BE MADE. THERE’S 6 WEEKS, AND COUNTING, UNTIL THE REGULAR SEASON ENDS; THERE PITCHING STAFF IS WOEFUL, HANGING ON BY A THREAD, AND BOBBY MILLER IS NOT THEIR SAVIOUR!
You are entitled to your opinion, but pretty much the entire world of baseball would consider you clueless.
Hey Vecchio, It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought of as a fool, than to open your yap and remove all doubt.
You’re a clown Vecchio. You question others’ qualifications? Your only qualification is setting caps lock. You’re witless about baseball.