Roki Sasaki exits Dodgers loss to Braves with

ATLANTA — The gathering on the Truist Park mound saved growing. At first, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was visited by pitching coach Mark Prior and catcher Hunter Feduccia, with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. Then, Prior summoned head athletic coach Thomas Albert. Then, they called out supervisor Dave Roberts, who ultimately made the pitching change.

The group had been analyzing the center finger on Sasaki’s proper hand. And the Dodgers later announced Sasaki had exited their 6-5 loss to the Braves in the fourth inning with a blister on that finger.

That would possibly clarify why Sasaki, who was charged with 4 runs and six hits in 3 ⅓ innings, didn’t look as sharp Wednesday against the Braves as he had been in the remaining of his spectacular second-half stretch. Sasaki entered the day with a 2.19 ERA in six begins since the All-Star break.

His effectivity Wednesday wavered, and he exited after 66 pitches. After Sasaki gave up a solo home run to Matt Olson in the first inning, the outing started to devolve in the fourth.

Sasaki walked Ozzie Albies to open the inning. Then he surrendered a single to Mike Yastrzemski, a sacrifice fly to Austin Riley and a double to Sean Murphy. Then Prior got here out to examine on him.

Right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez changed Sasaki, inheriting two baserunners. Both scored when Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández overran Drake Baldwin’s deep fly ball down the road, for a go-ahead double.

The Dodgers (80-53) never led again. Though they tied the rating in the seventh, they squandered a bases-loaded alternative the next inning. And in the ninth, nearer Tanner Scott, the fifth Dodgers reliever to take the mound, surrendered a walk-off single to pinch-hitter Ha-Seong Kim.

Regardless of whether or not the blister will have an effect on Sasaki’s next start, the 24-year-old right-hander is in an attention-grabbing place about a month away from the playoffs.

Barring an sudden prolonged absence, Sasaki will stay an important half of the Dodgers’ rotation in the ultimate month of the season. But as issues stand in that beginning group, there doesn’t seem to be room for him in the postseason rotation.

While the Dodgers have carried a six-man rotation for a lot of the common season, it’s down to 5 since the Dodgers put left-hander Justin Wrobleski on the IL a week and a half in the past and later moved lefty Eric Lauer to the bullpen in a multi-inning position. But in the playoffs, they only need 4 starters.

The next 4 days will present a preview, with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Thursday in the sequence finale against the Braves), left-hander Tarik Skubal (making his Detroit return Friday), lefty Blake Snell (Saturday), and seemingly some mixture of two-way star Shohei Ohtani and/or Tyler Glasnow (Sunday) all lined up.

That fourth and ultimate playoff rotation spot would be the one to comply with as the season winds down.

Ohtani is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday in Detroit, Roberts said, after which the Dodgers will finalize his schedule for the remaining of the weekend.

“Right now, I don’t think anyone knows how any day looks until he throws that bullpen on Friday,” Roberts said before the sport Wednesday.

Ohtani returning to pitching Sunday is still in play, Roberts confirmed. And Glasnow is also lined up for Sunday.

When Ohtani returns to the mound, it is going to be in a super-opener position, as he continues to construct up. And if he and Glasnow piggyback on Sunday, it’ll be a preview of a attainable postseason setup.

If Ohtani is in a position to construct up to a full starter’s load — pitching Sunday slightly than Tuesday would give him the possibility to make up to 5 begins before the end of the common season — the Dodgers might have a more troublesome choice at the back end of their rotation.

So, with 5 pitchers already penciled in for 4 postseason rotation spots, Sasaki is in line to pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason, along with Wrobleski, a 2026 All-Star who is anticipated to take on a reduction position as soon as he returns from the injured checklist.

Exactly what that will seem like for Sasaki is unclear. And because the Dodgers need him in the rotation down the stretch, even late-September video games aren’t assured to present hints.

Last postseason, Sasaki served as the Dodgers’ nearer, a position he might thrive in again. But this 12 months, as Edwin Díaz has struggled in the 16 appearances he’s made between IL stints, Scott has stayed healthy, not like last 12 months, and earned Roberts’ trust in save conditions.

Before finding out all of that, Sasaki has to get through this blister issue.