Dodgers' $6 million unexpected bullpen 'weapon' rapidly becomes saving grace this postseason

Hunter Cookston

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Dodgers' $6 million unexpected bullpen 'weapon' rapidly becomes saving grace this postseason image

Jiji Press

This offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Roki Sasaki to a contract. He started the year as a starter before getting injured. After the injury, he was sent to Triple-A and never made it back. This was due to decreased velocity, and there was essentially no faith in him returning for the postseason.

“The Dodgers no longer can count on rookie Roki Sasaki helping them down the stretch. His velocity is nowhere near the 102 mph he threw in Japan. He has thrown 59 fastballs through his two rehab starts, and has generated only one swing-and-miss,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote.

Fast forward to the final week of the regular season, and the Dodgers gave him a bullpen role to test. He impressed in his debut out of the pen.

“Sasaki, who was activated from the 60-day injured list before the game, looked impressive in a 1-2-3 inning. He struck out two, including Ildemaro Vargas swinging on a 99 mph fastball, and departed with the Dodgers leading 3-1,” ESPN wrote.

The outing had GM Dave Roberts hyped to see the different kind of player Sasaki is out of the bullpen.

“Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was elated to see the difference and confidence in rookie Roki Sasaki tonight: ‘He looked like a different person,’” Nightengale posted.

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However, it doesn’t matter until consistency shows. Well, on Friday night, Sasaki proved he deserves a postseason spot in his new role.

“Roki Sasaki with another shutdown inning in relief. He had 2 strikeouts and 4 whiffs on 12 pitches. He got Cal Raleigh on this ugly swing and miss. He also touched 100.1 mph. The Dodgers bullpen has quite the weapon for October,” Dodgers Nation’s Noah Camras posted.

Sasaki is a man on a mission, and just when the bullpen looked dead for the postseason, the rookie arrived. He had Raleigh fooled his entire at-bat. Now, it is just a wait and see until Tuesday.

Sasaki might not only have found his postseason role, but this has changed the entire outlook of his career. Whoever thought of this idea needs to be given their flowers.

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Hunter Cookston

Hunter Cookston began his career as a sportswriter for the Marion Tribune, where he covered local high school football, basketball and baseball. His passion for sports started at the age of four when he played his first year of tee ball. Growing up in Tennessee, he developed a deep love for the Tennessee Volunteers and Atlanta Braves. Hunter is currently attending Tennessee Wesleyan University, where he is pursuing a BA in Sports Communications/Management.