LOS ANGELES (AP) — Roki Sasaki's shoulder issue isn't as bad as it was last year, the touted Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher says, but it bothered him in his last two outings before he went on the injured list.
The 23-year-old rookie from Japan has been shut down from throwing indefinitely because of right shoulder impingement.
“Last year I did have something similar but actually worse, and that was something that I was able to overcome and still perform,” Sasaki said Wednesday through an interpreter. “It’s something that I somewhat feel but not to the extent that I felt from before."
He missed time last year with shoulder fatigue that limited him to 18 starts and 111 innings with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Sasaki is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts with the Dodgers. He has 24 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .225 average.
“Right now, I’m not throwing so it’s hard to tell how my shoulder feels,” he said.
Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Sasaki told the team his arm was sore after his last start, in which he pitched on five days’ rest for the first time in the majors. He threw four innings and gave up five runs on 61 pitches Friday at Arizona.
But Sasaki clarified that his shoulder was bothering him two starts ago.
“Not necessarily like pain, but it was just not the ideal way that I want my shoulders to move,” he said. “The last two outings hasn’t been up to par to where I wanted to be.”
However, given the team's current spate of pitching injuries, Sasaki was determined to press on and didn't initially say anything about his shoulder.
“I wanted to really help the team in any way, shape, and form,” he said.
Sasaki was known for throwing 100 mph in Japan, and in his major league debut against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo in March he repeatedly reached 99 mph in the first inning.
But he’s struggled to find that same zip on his fastball since, with his velocity dipping to the mid-90s.
“It’s hard to tell if it’s the main reason why my velo and command was affected,” he said.
Once he can throw again, Sasaki plans to use his time to work through his early struggles with command and velocity.
“I want to make sure that I’m fully healthy and be able to address anything that I had so that it leads to better performance,” he said.
Sasaki couldn't explain what caused his shoulder issues last year and now.
“There’s nothing per se that I could say it’s for certain, but it is a really good time for me to make sure that I can get to the bottom of it,” he said.
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) delivers against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning of a baseball game, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadia Comaneci, Apolo Ohno, Bart Conner and Cullen Jones were among the more than 300 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who gathered Tuesday under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Summer Games will open in 2028.
In an effort to promote Wednesday's registration launch for tickets to the Los Angeles Games, the athletes representing 28 different Olympics dating to 1960 joined Janet Evans in a short countdown to the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron against a clear blue winter sky.
“LA is committed to delivering an athlete-centered games and that can only happen if athletes are actually at the center of our planning,” said Evans, the Olympic champion swimmer who is chief athlete officer for the LA28 organizing committee.
The get-together felt like a homecoming to Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever with eight short track speedskating medals.
“I walked in and I literally saw like 50 of my friends that I'd grown up in the Olympic training center with for many years,” he said. "I haven't seen some of these people for 10 years or more."
The athletes met with LA28 officials beforehand, with several offering suggestions on how to improve the athlete experience.
“We have the athlete voice in the areas that really need to be heard,” said Jones, the retired swimmer who joined the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last summer as associate director of athlete marketing. “I'm really excited to see what LA28 looks like.”
Conner noted that with the majority of venues already built in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom, organizers can focus on the competitors. The three-time Olympic gymnast capped his career at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
“The athletes know that they're the center of every decision,” he said. “It's not just like, let's call the athletes and see what they think about it. The athletes are already in all the board meetings. I understood today that there's more athletes involved in leadership here in the Olympic organizing committee than there are at the IOC.”
Nearby, Comaneci twirled for photographers under the peristyle. The Romanian gymnast became a teenage superstar at the 1976 Montreal Games, where she earned the first perfect 10.0 mark in Olympic history. She and Conner will mark their 30th wedding anniversary in April.
Registration opens at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday at Tickets.LA28.org. It's the first step for a chance to secure a time slot to buy tickets starting in April. After registering, fans will be randomly assigned time slots to buy tickets throughout future ticket releases.
Individual tickets, hospitality packages including tickets and packages involving travel and accommodations will also go on sale later this year.
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Former Olympians gather for a group photo at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Former Olympian Jane Evans, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer, center right, stands next to Casey Wasserman, LA28 Chairperson and President, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
