After Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, another free-agent pitcher from Japan is attracting a lot of interest this year.
Roki Sasaki is a 23-year-old starting pitcher who will join an MLB club in 2025, but insider Keith Law said there are some concerns about the young star.
“The guy hasn’t pitched that much the last two years. He’s basically thrown half a season each of the last two years,” Law said, via Foul Territory.
.@keithlaw from the Athletic breaks down concerns over Roki Sasaki’s durability and workload pic.twitter.com/hrdcBee769
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 21, 2024
Law mentioned that Sasaki has dealt with shoulder inflammation and an oblique strain in the past two seasons.
Dealing with those ailments, in 2023, Sasaki pitched 91.0 innings with a 1.78 ERA and 135 strikeouts, while in 2024, he pitched 111.0 innings with a 2.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts.
Law mentions that Sasaki has an electric arm that any organization would want to build around, but he questions the right-hander’s ability to stay healthy throughout an entire MLB season.
Other big-name free-agent pitchers available include Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.
The Dodgers are one team that seems likely to sign Sasaki, but there are plenty of other teams interested in him.
Whoever ends up signing Sasaki, it will be interesting to see how they use him, taking into consideration his injury history and recent workload.
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