Just 15 months ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers bowed out of the NLDS at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Swept by a division rival that had won 16 fewer games than the Dodgers in the regular season, it was another maddening early October exit for a franchise that was all too familiar with such a feeling. Despite repeatedly building rosters seemingly fit for a championship run, Los Angeles continued to fail.
Even though the schedule suggests otherwise, that brutal and embarrassing elimination against Arizona now seems like a distant memory. Since this defeat in the NLDS, which the president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, considered “an organizational failure“, the Dodgers achieved extraordinary organizational success. Their latest triumph: the signing of Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, 23 years olda generationally gifted pitcher whose one-time free agency has become one of the biggest hot-button storylines MLB has seen this for some time.
Many organizations coveted Sasaki, whose international amateur status made him available for a fraction of what he would have been worth if he had waited until he was 25 and came to MLB as a free agent. in its own right. This wasn’t a player the Dodgers could simply flex their financial muscles and outbid the competition for; it was about recruiting and selling a vision of a place where a young pitcher can maximize his big league dreams. Ultimately – thanks in large part to last year, in which the franchise took its roster to new heights, won the World Series and solidified its reputation as a powerhouse of development – the Dodgers also offer a compelling argument by these standards. And of course, Sasaki chose Los Angeles as his home for the first chapter of his highly anticipated major league career.
The addition of Sasaki only amplifies what was already a ridiculously stacked projected rotation for the Dodgers, forming one of the most astonishing quintets of starting pitchers the game has ever seen. There is Sasaki, a 23-year-old gifted from one generation to the next, who can still improve. Blake Snell, two-time Cy Young Award winner who signed a $182 million contract earlier this offseason. Tyler Glasnow, a gigantic flamethrower who has the lowest batting average of any MLB starting pitcher over the last five seasons. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 26-year-old right-hander who received the largest free agent contract ever given to a pitcher a year ago. And, of course, Shohei Ohtani, who is expected to resume his legendary two-way exploits this year after not pitching in 2024 while recovering from elbow surgery. This is a breathtaking array of weapons. And perhaps most notable, none of them were with the organization 14 months ago.
Yet as stunning as the roster is on paper, this rotation is not one without questions. This is a group whose collective supersonic talent is almost matched by uncertainty about their durability. Sasaki suffered oblique and shoulder injuries during his final season in Japan. Snell battled a groin injury that required several stints on the IL. Yamamoto missed nearly two months last year with a triceps injury, and Glasnow finished the year on the IL with an elbow issue. Meanwhile, Ohtani didn’t throw a single competitive pitch.
On the mound, these pitchers have mostly excelled, displaying their all-world skills for significant stretches. Their sheer ability is categorically undeniable. Availability, however, has been another matter, and how the Dodgers choose to manage each pitcher’s workload will be fascinating to watch as this super-rotation takes shape in the coming months. A six-man rotation has been discussed as a distinct possibility, and Ohtani is not expected to join the rotation. at the start of the seasonwhich will delay any initial vision of seeing these five special weapons deployed by the Dodgers in five straight games. Simply put, it’s going to take a lot to get these rising stars to line up as neatly as we’d like.
But as we shift our curiosity around this famous 23-year-old pitcher from “Which team will Sasaki sign with?” to “What can we expect from Sasaki as a rookie in 2025?” his choice to join the Dodgers somewhat obscures our short-term projection. If Sasaki had signed with San Diego or Toronto, the other two finalists announced won the launcherthe path to a turning point would have been much clearer. Their depth charts aren’t particularly crowded, and it’s possible that Sasaki made their opening day rotations regardless of how he performed in spring training.
With the Dodgers, however, it might not be that simple. Because as gifted as Sasaki is, he’s far from a finished product – and not as polished as Yamamoto was when he left NPB a year ago. And unlike his highly compensated peers, whose rotation spots are set assuming they’re healthy, the Dodgers could very realistically slow Sasaki’s transition to the major league level. Because he was considered an international amateur, Sasaki only signed a minor league contract – one that gave the Dodgers the option to pick him from the minors and kept him under team control for six seasons. This long-term flexibility and control likely creates a level of patience you wouldn’t traditionally associate with a high-end free agent acquisition. There is no need to accelerate Sasaki’s development if further refinement seems necessary.
Certainly, it’s possible that Sasaki shows up at Camelback Ranch and dominates to the point that the decision regarding his immediate role is obvious, but there could be a few bumps in the road. Perhaps more pertinently, it’s not like Sasaki won’t have any competition. An abundance of other spin caliber options remain on the list. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are returning from injury, and both had impressive records as big league starters before getting hurt. Another wave of less experienced arms, including Bobby Miller, Ben Casparius and Landon Knack, will also be at camp eager to prove their worth. And even though he won’t be ready for spring training, the Dodgers are still expected to re-sign franchise icon Clayton Kershaw, who could be ready to contribute at some point next summer.
The fact is the Dodgers will have options. If Sasaki immediately lives up to the sensational hype attached to his arrival, it’s great news for Los Angeles and the broader MLB audience who are eager to see him pitch to the big league stage sooner and later. often possible. But if he doesn’t, the Dodgers will be just fine. Sasaki’s fit with this super-team provides the player and team with the breathing room to allow him to develop at whatever pace is required.
While Sasaki’s exact role and the extent of his immediate impact remain to be seen, what is clear is that in joining Ohtani and Yamamoto, the Dodgers have assembled a triumvirate of Japanese stars never before seen on a big league team .
Perhaps fittingly, 30 years ago, Hideo Nomo made his major league debut with the Dodgers, ushering in a new era of Japanese stars in the United States after decades without any crossover between NPB and MLB. Now, three of the most talented players Japan has ever produced have come together on a Dodgers team already brimming with domestic superstars. The organization will soon descend on Arizona, where a media frenzy awaits its first practices and Cactus League competitions. One month later, the Dodgers’ title defense will begin – and what better place to begin the journey than in Tokyo.