Rōki Sasaki Activated by Dodgers — Return from IL, Bullpen Role, and What His Comeback Means for LA

The Dodgers activated Roki Sasaki from the 60-day IL as they search for bullpen answers. Read the full Rōki Sasaki update: his Dodger Stadium debut, injury history, recent Triple-A rehab, expected role, and how he could impact Dodgers scorelines and October plans. (Rōki Sasaki, Dodgers, LA Dodgers, Sasaki Dodgers)

Quick take (TL;DR)

Rōki Sasaki — the high-ceiling Japanese right-hander the Dodgers signed in January — was activated from the 60-day injured list and is expected to be used out of the bullpen in the final regular-season games as Los Angeles tries to steady a wobbly relief corps. Sasaki began 2025 as a starter (showing electric stuff and strikeout upside) but suffered a right-shoulder impingement in May that sidelined him for months. After several Triple-A rehab outings he returned to the big-league roster and tossed a scoreless inning in a 5–4, 11-inning win over Arizona, lowering concern and giving the Dodgers another high-leverage option as they push to clinch the NL West.

Why this matters: context for Dodgers fans

Los Angeles has been carried by an elite starting rotation all season, but September exposed weaknesses in the bullpen — higher-than-expected ERAs and blown leads. With the postseason around the corner, manager Dave Roberts and the front office turned to a bold gambit: convert Sasaki into a relief option to maximize his stuff in shorter stints. If Sasaki can harness his triple-digit fastball and devastating splitter in one- or two-inning bursts, he could become a matchup weapon in October. The timing — activation with only a handful of regular-season games left — signals the Dodgers want to evaluate him in real game pressure before playoff rosters are set.

Load-bearing facts (what to trust first)

1. Sasaki was activated from the 60-day injured list on Sept. 24/25 and Kirby Yates was placed on the IL to make room.
2. He began 2025 as a starter; his season to date included 34⅓ innings, a 4.72 ERA and 24 strikeouts before the shoulder impingement sidelined him in May.
3. The Dodgers used Sasaki in relief in their 5–4, 11-inning win vs Arizona — he threw a scoreless seventh and struck out two in his first outing back.
4. Sasaki signed with Los Angeles in January 2025 on a deal that included a reported $6.5M bonus and club control through his rookie contract.
5. The Dodgers’ bullpen has been an issue in September (team bullpen ERA spiking), which is the main reason the club is experimenting with Sasaki as a reliever.

(Those five items are the day’s most important facts about Sasaki and the Dodgers; sources are linked above.)

Rōki Sasaki: short bio & how he landed in LA

Rōki Sasaki, 23 (born 2001), burst onto the global radar with the Chiba Lotte Marines in NPB because of an elite combination of velocity and a devastating splitter. After being posted, Sasaki elected to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2025, receiving a signing bonus that reports pegged at about $6.5 million. The signing was a marquee international pickup — comparable in follow-the-hype terms to other high-profile Japanese-to-MLB transitions — and the Dodgers envisioned a long-term starter with frontline upside.

In spring and early season work, scouts praised Sasaki’s four-seamer (touching triple digits), plus breaking pitches, and his ability to miss bats. But his control and durability were still projects, and a shoulder impingement that shut him down in May complicated an otherwise promising start to his MLB career.

What happened — the injury, rehab, and activation timeline

• May 2025: Sasaki landed on the injured list with a right-shoulder impingement after several starts. That injury ended his original rotation role for the near term.
• Summer 2025: He made seven rehab outings with Triple-A Oklahoma City (some reports showing uneven results and a 6.10 ERA in Triple-A), worked on mechanics and regained velocity. Management said they liked the uptick in his fastball. (Reuters)
• Sept. 24–25, 2025: The Dodgers activated Sasaki from the 60-day IL and transferred Kirby Yates to the IL (hamstring). Sasaki then made a scoreless relief appearance in the Dodgers’ 11-inning win, striking out two and helping the club reduce its magic number to clinch the NL West.

The quick conversion from starter to reliever is a deliberate short-term plan: shorter stints can let Sasaki maximize velocity and deception while limiting innings for a shoulder coming off an impingement. The Dodgers will evaluate workload, effectiveness and how his pitches play in high-leverage situations before finalizing postseason usage.

R. Sasaki. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Nv49Y8Nw6R

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 25, 2025

How he looked in his first outing back (and why it matters)

Sasaki’s first big-league outing since May came in a high-leverage environment: he threw a scoreless seventh inning and struck out two batters — a small but meaningful data point. For a young pitcher coming off shoulder trouble, a clean frame with punchouts is encouraging; it suggests his stuff (velocity & movement) returned enough to be effective and that the shoulder held up under game stress. ESPN’s recap and local coverage confirmed the scoreless frame and the two strikeouts.

Why that single inning matters: the Dodgers’ playoff equations increasingly depend on the bullpen. A reliable 7th/8th inning arm who can miss bats improves late-game options and lets established guys (Kershaw, Sheehan, Treinen, etc.) be slotted more flexibly in October. Sasaki’s ability to produce swings-and-misses with velocity and a splitter could make him uniquely valuable in short bursts.

[Note: Images are collected from Instagram]

The strategic conversion: starter → reliever (pros & cons)

Why the Dodgers are trying Sasaki in relief now

• Short bursts maximize the electric elements of his repertoire (FB + splitter) — leading to stronger strikeout rates.
• The Dodgers’ bullpen ERA trend in September forced experimentation; fresh arms with upside can fix late-game volatility.
• Managing innings protects his shoulder while still gaining valuable playoff-period contributions.

Risks & downsides

• Sasaki is a premium pitching prospect whose long-term ceiling is as a starter; moving him to relief permanently would truncate that ceiling.
• Shoulder history (impingement) raises long-term health questions; aggressive usage in high leverage could risk re-injury if not carefully managed.
• Small sample size: a single scoreless inning is encouraging but far from definitive; the Dodgers will need multiple outings to trust him in October.

Overall: this is a short-term, evaluation-first approach that balances bullpen need with player development and medical caution.