Sasaki shows more signs of improvement in 3rd rehab start

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki continued to make strides while on his rehab assignment, flashing some improved velocity in his third start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

Sasaki averaged 96.4 mph and topped out at 98.8 on his four-seamer, an uptick from his previous start last Wednesday. The 23-year-old struck out four, walked two and allowed three earned runs on five hits across 3 2/3 innings against the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals' affiliate). He threw 75 pitches (47 strikes).

Earlier in the week, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the goal had been to get Sasaki through four innings and possibly into the fifth. Sasaki is expected to need at least one additional rehab start before he can be an option to return to the big league club.

Sasaki has seemingly made some progress since his first rehab start, when he labored through two-plus innings and failed to generate any whiffs on his fastball. That remained a clear area of improvement on Tuesday (two whiffs on the four-seamer), but Sasaki's signature splitter looked to be in good shape, getting seven swing-and-misses.

While building Sasaki up to a starter's workload is the primary objective of his rehab assignment, the Dodgers believe it is just as important that he returns to the big leagues with the conviction to attack hitters to the best of his ability.

The Dodgers are in a good spot with their six-man rotation consisting of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani and Emmet Sheehan. As things stand, they can afford for Sasaki to take the time he needs to come back strong.

"I think that he's not quite there yet, but he's getting there," Roberts said before Sasaki's most recent outing. "And again, there's nothing more confidence-building than performance."