LOS ANGELES -- Following a lengthy layoff from game action, Roki Sasaki is a few steps away from resuming his rookie season in the big leagues.
Sasaki is set to begin a Minor League assignment next Thursday with Triple-A Oklahoma City, manager Dave Roberts said. The goal will be for Sasaki to stretch out to three innings in his first rehab start, which will come against the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, with first pitch set for 5:05 p.m. PT.
Sasaki has been on the injured list since May 13 with impingement in his right shoulder, and he was transferred to the 60-day IL on June 20. He checked his last box before a rehab assignment on Friday, when he faced hitters for the third time across three simulated innings, throwing around 45 pitches and sitting 96-97 mph with his fastball.
"I'm just really relieved that I'm pain-free," Sasaki said earlier in the week through interpreter Will Ireton, "so I'm really taking this time to focus in on the delivery, and that's something that I'm really excited to do."
This past offseason, Sasaki was highly sought after by Major League teams as the latest pitching sensation to come out of Japan. The 23-year-old right-hander ended up signing with the Dodgers and hasn't lived up to those lofty expectations, having posted a 4.72 ERA in eight starts before injuring his shoulder.
From the beginning of his time in L.A., Sasaki has called himself a work in progress. That was apparent from his first handful of big league starts, when he showed flashes of his massive potential but was not quite right mechanically, which led to inconsistent velocity and command.
Sasaki has used his time on the IL to work on his mechanics. He has started throwing a two-seam fastball, adding another layer to the three-pitch mix (four-seamer, splitter and slider) that he began the season with. He has also put on muscle and gained some physicality.
"I think I only saw one [two-seamer], and it was up and in so it was hard for me to tell," said outfielder Alex Call, who faced Sasaki on Friday. "But I could definitely tell there was a bit of a difference, so hopefully that’ll be good for him."
Once he gets to around five innings and 75 pitches, Sasaki should be on track to return around late August or early September.
But Roberts has stressed the importance of not only building up Sasaki's workload, but his confidence as well. As of Friday's live session, Roberts noticed the young right-hander was "still kind of searching," consulting with the pitching coaches after every simulated inning.
The Dodgers currently have six starting pitchers on the active roster: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan, the latter of whom can also be a long-relief option if needed. As long as the current group stays healthy, the Dodgers can afford for Sasaki to take the time to build the confidence they would like to see from him.
"As a starting pitcher, you've got to build up," Roberts said. "We want Roki to gain some confidence, some real confidence in taking down 22 hitters, 24 hitters, commanding the baseball. I really don't know what that looks like. But what I do know is that we've got to get him back to pitching in games and competing, and then I think that in the coming weeks we'll know more from there."